Why bitch after a break-up when you could be moving on?

Dee O'Keeffe

GOSH, some celebrities really leave their dignity at the door when it comes to break-ups. The former girlfriend of George Clooney says that their relationship was more of a father-daughter liaison.

Given recent pictures of Clooney looking, well less and less like George Clooney, Elisabetta Canalis' (pictured) comments definitely come with the 'ouch' factor. And a touch of the 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' factor too.

The Italian TV presenter went on the record in a new book, Questo Amore (This Love) by Italian journalist Bruno Vespa. In it the 33-year-old says: "He has been special for me, and very important, just as a father would be."

She also states that: "George and I never spoke of marriage nor of having kids. The end of the relationship was not caused by a marriage issue, but instead by our personal needs."

Of course, everybody who reads the papers knows that the romance ended when Elisabetta spoke of marriage and babies being on the horizon. Weeks later her A-list lover dumped her.

Clooney, true to form, is now dating former wrestler and Dancing with the Stars contestant Stacy Keibler. Not to be outdone, Elisabetta has also found love again. The Italian star has been spotted several times since the split with 31-year-old former True Blood star Mehcad Brooks.

It all seems so bloody time-consuming to me, not to mention cliched, yet women are not the only ones who feel the need to even scores when a relationship breaks down.

Dignity

If Clooney and Canalis had a father-daughter relationship then one can only assume that the flip side of that coin applied to the marriage of Courteney Cox and David Arquette -- she has maintained her dignity while her ex has spoken about their love life, his love life post-marriage and lots of other TMI topics to journalists.

Cox and Clooney have the right approach: it's best to say nothing unless it is a nice thing to say. It's also way more satisfying to maintain some self-respect, as anyone who has moved on with a broken heart will know.

Having been dumped twice, my golden rule second time round was 'don't ask why'. If someone does not want to be with you then there's simply no point. If your partner calls time then it's time to move on and without the nasty jibes to friends or press. The end of an affair is 'build a bridge and get over it' territory. >Dee O'Keeffe