LONDON: Australian pop star Kylie Minogue has separated from her boyfriend, the French singer and actor Olivier Martinez, the couple said in a statement on February 2.

“Olivier Martinez and Kylie Minogue have officially confirmed that they are no longer a couple,” the pair said in a joint statement published by Britain’s domestic Press Association news agency. “They have made it clear that the decision to go their separate ways was mutual and amicable. The media’s false accusations of disloyalty have saddened them both. The two remain very close friends.”

Britain’s News of the World tabloid claimed last Sunday that the couple’s relationship was on the rocks and alleged Martinez, 41, had been unfaithful.

Minogue, 38, was forced to cancel two upcoming concerts on the British leg of her Showgirl Homecoming tour last month due to a respiratory tract infection. The singer, who is back on tour following treatment for breast cancer discovered in mid-2005, also had to pull out halfway through a performance in Manchester due to the flu.