Bullock cancels Blind Side premiere amid affair claim

Warner Brothers has cancelled next Tuesday's UK premiere of The Blind Side after Sandra Bullock, who won this year's Best Actress Oscar for her starring role, pulled out.

Warner would only cite "unforeseen circumstances", but the cancellation comes hot on the heels of claims in a US magazine that her husband Jesse James had an 11-month affair with a tattoo model.

Bullock had planned to hit the red carpet in Leicester Square with her co-star, Quinton Aaron, to promote the drama, which is based on the true story of an American football player who went from being more or less homeless to one of the sport's biggest names. Her Oscar-winning performance almost didn't happen because Bullock had doubts about playing a deeply religious woman.

In the new issue of the American magazine, In Touch, Michelle 'Bombshell' McGee, who is described as a "tattoo model", claims she had an 11-month sexual relationship with James (above right), who is famous as the host of American Choppers, a reality TV series about motorbikes. McGee is heavily tattooed and has appeared on the cover of magazines devoted to body art.

The model says she called James the 'Vanilla Gorilla' because he was so "well-endowed" and says they had sex "two or three times" the first night they met. McGee's story - that she met James through Facebook and thought he was separated from his wife - has not been confirmed by Bullock or her husband, but Bullock's cancelled UK appearance is bound to add fuel to rumours that the affair did take place.

The couple are not typical of Hollywood, living comparatively quietly outside Austin, Texas, where Bullock runs several small businesses including a restaurant and a flower shop. The two have custody of James's daughter from his previous marriage to porn actress Janine Lindemulder. ·