James Mcavoy's allergies ruined a romantic carriage ride with his wife as he suffered a nasty reaction to horse hair.

The X-Men star admits he cannot spent too much time around the animals because he starts "wheezing" so he has to reject any jobs which would involve equestrianism.

However, he refused to let his allergy put him off a ride around New York City's Central Park in a horse-drawn carriage with his actress partner Anne-Marie Duff, but they both ended up suffering.

"I've had to turn down so many nice jobs because I can't go near them for too long - it's a real shame," he tells U.K. talk show host Graham Norton. "I look like I've insulted Mike Tyson and my eyes swell up like golf balls...

"I once tried to take Anne-Marie, my wife, on a romantic ride around Central Park in a carriage and we were in the back and it was freezing so we were given a blanket - a blanket that had been used on the horses all day - and I started sneezing and my wife is allergic too so we started wheezing and coughing. It was the most unromantic night of our lives where we were incapable of walking let alone anything else!"