7:11pm UK, Saturday July 19, 2003

The actor made famous for his role as Mini-Me in the Austin Powers film series has announced he is to wed his girlfriend - who is six-foot, two-inches tall.

Verne Troyer, standing two-foot, eight-inches in his socks, said he felt like a giant when 29-year-old yoga instructor Genevieve Gallen agreed to tie the knot.

180 Genevieve Gallen Verne Troyer Mini-Me

The ceremony is expected to take place in November.

It has not always been plain sailing for the couple, however.

Gallen dumped Troyer for a six-foot male stripper earlier this year, prompting the love-sick midget, who has admitted to a drinking problem, to go on a bender.

After flying from Los Angeles to New York, a drunken Troyer wound up in a strip club, dancing on stage with a stripper.

Troyer has now undergone treatment for alcoholism and friends say the stability of marriage will help to keep him off the booze.