Ashton Kutcher feared 'affair rumours' if he hugged Reese Witherspoon at premiere

Ashton Kutcher feared he would trigger "affair rumours" if he hugged Reese Witherspoon at the premiere of Your Place or Mine.

Following the Los Angeles screening of the new romantic comedy last week, fans pointed out the film stars didn't look particularly comfortable posing together on the red carpet.

But during an interview for the Chicks in the Office podcast, Ashton insisted he and Reese are "really good friends" and he was simply trying to avoid making headlines.

"Here's the thing: If I put my arm around her and was, like, all friendly with her, I'd be having an affair with her - the rumour would be that I'm having an affair with her," he revealed in a preview. "If I stand next to her, I put my hands in my pockets so there's no chance that, like, that could be the rumour - the rumour is we don't like each other. Reese and I are really good friends. We're really close. I don't have to defend that."

And while Reese is a natural on the red carpet, Ashton admitted he finds taking pictures at events to be difficult due to hearing problems.

"I can't hear very well. I'm hard of hearing in one ear and I can only hear in the other. I don't know who's yelling my name, but I know there's a lot of people yelling, 'Reese! Ashton! Over here! Look at this one! Over here!' At a certain point you're looking you're like, 'God, this is really something. OK, which one? Look at the camera. Got it. OK, are we done? Awesome.' For, like, 20 minutes," the star laughed. The No Strings Attached star continued, "If you're gonna tell me in that entire 20-minute period, at one point, you're not going to have an awkward face, then you're better than I am. And I'm cool with that."

Your Place or Mine is set to debut via Netflix on 10 February.