I'm not to blame for break-up, says DJ

Musician Dan Peppe has denied he is the reason Zoe Ball and her husband Norman Cook have split up.

"We were there as friends and it has developed and now we are closer than just friends," he said.

Ball and Cook - who married in 1999 and have a two-year-old son, Woody - separated last month.

Peppe, a DJ and part of underground act Themroc, said: "I knew there were problems in the marriage and I helped her, but I wouldn't say I was the cause of those problems."

Ball yesterday issued a statement admitting her relationship with Peppe had "developed" but asked for her and her family to be treated "graciously" by the media.