Chris O'Dowd's new wife combining surnames

Chris O'dowd's TV presenter wife Dawn Porter has decided against adopting her new husband's surname following their summer (12) wedding, because she worked so hard to find fame before marrying the star.

The couple exchanged vows in August (12), but rather than changing her surname fully, the TV star now wants to be known as Dawn O'Porter in a bid to maintain her public identity.

She tells Britain's Glamour magazine, "I am often asked why my surname is so important to me. My name and I have been through so much together. I have spent most of my adult life trying to get people to remember it, to watch my shows, to read my work, to see my name and think, 'Oh, it's that girl, her name is Dawn Porter.' Rather than just being 'the girl from that thing I watched last night'.

"My husband, Chris, is fine for me not to be called Mrs O'Dowd; but still, I know he likes that people see us as a unit, a family, a married couple - and so do I. So, for now, I've worked out a compromise that suits us well: I have taken the 'O'.

"Members of my family think this is ridiculous, but we don't care. I am lucky that I have the option to keep Porter prominent and take a tiny letter that, for me, expresses the unity with my husband that I am proud of."