Kevin Smith fled when a mugger approached him - leaving Alanis Morissette to fend for herself.

The film director was walking in Los Angeles with the singer-and-actress after they had been working on 1999 movie 'Dogma' when he feared they were going to be attacked.

He revealed: "While I didn't immediately push Alanis into the dude and run away, I separated myself from her. The chivalrous thing would have been me putting myself between her and harm's way, but I thought, 'She's a tough broad. I'm running and hoping that she's smart enough to run too.' "

However, Kevin instantly regretted his decision as he realised it meant Alanis, 35, would never be interested in him romantically.

He explained in his book 'Shooting The S**t With Kevin Smith: "I could tell that if I had had any shot of getting together with her, it went out the window that day."