THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT ALLY MCBEAL

The couple met at a charity dinner in Los Angeles earlier this month. Friends say they have become inseparable and are "deliriously happy together''.

A close pal added: "Ben has been a very calming influence on Calista.

"He's offering her a lot of support and a lot of love."

Calista, 34, had been linked to British director Sam Mendes. But friends said the reports were "ludicrous and untrue".

The pal added: "Ben is the only man in Calista's life."

Calista became a household name almost overnight playing neurotic Boston lawyer Ally McBeal in the hit Channel 4 show.

But last year friends feared that her incredible success was taking its toll as she grew thinner and thinner.

Calista was also at a low point in her life after ending her relationship with Jeffrey Kramer, the executive producer of her show.

Recently the star denied claims that she was anorexic, insisting that she simply had a fast metabolism.

But secretly film insiders were growing increasingly worried about her waif-like appearance.

Now friends say Ben, 33, has changed all that.

One said: "He's been a tower of strength to her while she comes to terms with her weight problem.

"As a result they've been spending more and more time together and seem to be getting on incredibly well.

"Meeting him is the best thing that has happened to Calista in a long while.

"Ben understands the pressures of fame and is very sympathetic to Calista's situation.''

Ben, who is a director as well as a comic actor, is currently starring in Your Friends and Neighbours. He recently split from English actress Claire Forlani.