My lover's no rat

Denise Van Outen is standing by her fiance despite claims that he cheated on her with a lapdancer.

The former Big Breakfast hostess is still planning to marry nightclub owner Richard Traviss next year - and they will shortly be moving together into a £1.8million penthouse apartment in central London.

Miss Van Outen, 29, has told friends she fully trusts Mr Traviss and does not believe a word of allegations in a Sunday newspaper by 27-year-old Morgan Tyler.

According to Miss Tyler, she had a twoyear relationship with Mr Traviss which ended only recently. She said they had

'sex romps' while his fiancèe was appearing in shows in New York and

London, and he bombarded her with text messages.

'What this girl has been saying about Richard is completely

untrue,' said one of Miss

Van Outen's friends.

'Denise feels very sad that girls like this have to do such things to get attention. She trusts Richard 100 per cent and all the plans they have previously made, including marriage, still stand.' The couple, who became engaged in April, are understood to be taking legal action against Miss Tyler.

Miss Van Outen, whose stage career took off when she starred in Chicago in the West End, is currently performing the lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tell Me On A Sunday.

Mr Traviss, 33, presented her with 100 red roses on her opening night.

The friend continued: 'They bought a gorgeous two-storey apartment in Marylebone - very near to where Madonna lives with Guy Ritchie - which they have been decorating over the past few months.

'They want it to be absolutely perfect and didn't want to move in until

all the work had been completed - they are now planning to move in at the beginning of December.

'Although they don't live together yet, they spend nearly every night together.'

Mr Traviss, who runs the London celebrity haunt Brown's and the lapdancing club Bada Bing, claims he has been the victim of a set-up.

His spokesman said: ' There was a girl with whom he had a close friendship, long before he went out with Denise, who has got back in contact with him and tried to entice him into doing something. This is an attempt to upset and demoralise Denise.'

Mr Traviss began dating Essexborn Miss Van Outen in November 2001, although their romance was interrupted when she flew to New York to reprise her role in Chicago for Broadway audiences.

Shortly afterwards teenage model and former lapdancer Simone Haynes said she had been having a relationship with Mr Traviss but Miss Van Outen refused to take the claims seriously.