LATEST: Freddie Prinze Jr has stepped forward to sheepishly disclose that the pain he recently described as a "cracked rib" is actually just discomfort from eating too much Chinese food.

Last week (ends07OCT05), the actor, married to his Scooby-Doo co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar, claimed he got out of bed in New York City with a mysteriously cracked rib.

But he now admits that over-indulgence at one of his favourite restaurants is more likely the cause of his pain.

He says, "(My rib) is not cracked. It's officially torn muscles between two ribs. I ate a lot and my stomach was a little upset and I went to bed and I woke up the next day and I felt like I broke a rib.

"(I ate) a lot of Chinese food. My favourite little place in New York is a place called Chun Lee and they have a lot of food and I ate all of it.

"It hurts really bad. They gave me Vicodin, but I can't take too much of that because I have to work. So they gave me these anti-inflammatories, but they make me throw up, which tears the muscle more, so it's not really that helpful."