Both the New York Daily News and The New York Post reported last Friday that actress Cynthia Nixon, who had recently picked up an Emmy for her role in the HBO comedy Sex and the City, has been in a relationship with another woman since January this year.

The 38-year-old who played Miranda Hobbes, an independent, cynical corporate lawyer on the six award-winning seasons of the now defunct comedy series is poised to become even more popular with lesbians.

The actress was unwilling to disclose the name or more information about her partner as she told the Daily News when asked whether she is involved with another woman: "My private life is private. But at the same time, I have nothing to hide. So what I will say is that I am very happy."

Nixon's publicist Carrie Ross told AP: "We will not confirm or deny anything."

In the show, Nixon plays a strictly heterosexual character, except for one episode in the first series when her boss mistook her for being gay and set her up with another woman. The date lasted one kiss. She later struggled to balance her career with a baby, and eventually married her bartender boyfriend.

Nixon and the father of her two children, photographer Danny Mozes began their 15-year relationship in high school but never married. The two who reportedly split in June 2003 share custody of their two children, according to the Daily News.

The paper reports the woman is not in show business nor living with Nixon, who has managed to keep the new romance under wraps by going to media events alone or with her mother.

Nixon is currently filming Tanner on Tanner, a Robert Altman and Garry Trudeau miniseries for the Sundance Channel and will also appear in the comedy/romance Little Manhattan, which is scheduled for a 2005 release.