From the Herald-Sun newspaper ( Melbourne, Australia )

The Day I knocked back the Sexiest Man in the World
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by Lauren Williams

November 21, 2008 12:00am

WOMEN around the world are swooning over newly crowned "sexiest man alive" Hugh Jackman, but Martine Bruce remembers the time she knocked him back.

"I remember him chasing me around the playground, trying to kiss me," she said.

Jackman named Martine this week as his first girlfriend.

Jackman, whose popularity is about to soar even higher alongside Nicole Kidman in Australia, recalled picking Martine up after she fell in a running race at primary school.

"My dad said, Oh, I always knew you were romantic because you were running in a race and Martine fell over and you stopped and went back and picked her up. Chivalry was there," Jackman said.

Now married, the Sydney mother of three said she couldn't recall the running race.

But she did remember the young Jackman as a gentleman.

"We would play catch and kiss in the playground. He used to write me love letters."

Ms Bruce was shocked when her old flame named her in the international press.

"I was rather surprised. I didn't think he would tell the whole world!" she laughed.

As a nine-year-old, she recalled her young sweetheart throwing rocks on the roof of her North Shore home.

"I remember him coming out on the street and throwing rocks on the roof to get my attention. I wouldn't come out. I would hide from him."

She said they stayed in touch through high school, but lost contact after university.

They were reunited on stage when Ms Bruce appeared as a chorus girl in a local production of My Fair Lady and Jackman was the leading man.

"He was really lovely. He was always a gentleman."

Wtf does "knocked back" mean? Did she beat his ass or get him pregnant?