Benedict Cumberbatch amused by romance gossip

Benedict Cumberbatch was left stunned by a storm of paparazzi who wrongly assumed a night out with his niece was a hot date.

The War Horse star picked up a Golden Globe Awards nomination for his work on British TV drama Sherlock on Thursday (13Dec12), and he chose to celebrate that night with his personal assistant, Emily, who also happens to be his relative.

Snappers assumed Benedict Cumberbatch was on a date, and turned a quiet night out into a scrum of flashbulbs.

He tells the Associated Press, "I went out with my niece, who is my PA Emily, and we got papped (photographed) to the point that I couldn't actually see and I had to put my head down and just blink a couple of times. I was trying to get in the car with her and so immediately they presume, 'Ah, beautiful blonde...'

"Poor girl, she's never experienced that before. I've never experienced that. (There was) like 15 of them hanging off the bonnet of the car."