Leo says he's just a mammy's boy

Leonardo di Caprio fears he's a difficult person to date because his mother is the benchmark by which he measures all women - and "no woman could ever compete with her".

The Titanic star, who is dating Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen, admits his German-born mother Irmelin has all the qualities he looks for in a partner, but he accepts it's a difficult standard for other women to live up to.

He explains, "I think that first and foremost in a relationship you have to be friends with the person. I do like a girl who has a sense of humour and doesn't automatically make up her mind about me before she's met me.

"Apart from that, the best I can hope is to find a woman who has half of the qualities that my mother has. She's so much a part of who I am that I can't even talk about myself without talking about her.

"She's my moral cornerstone. No woman could ever compete with her. She's a good-natured, honest, morally righteous person and she's been a tremendous example to me."