Couple won't cash in on $10 million kiss

IT HAS been called "the kiss worth $10 million". But the couple who were caught in a moment of passion during a riot in Vancouver have insisted they will not cash in on it.

Australian comedian Scott Jones and his Canadian girlfriend, Alexandra Thomas, shot to global fame after they were captured sharing a kiss in the midst of a riot following an ice hockey final.

But the couple have turned down the offers of television appearances and advertising endorsements that could be worth millions of dollars.

They have already declined to fly to New York to appear on The Today Show and Good Morning America.

Celebrity agent Max Markson said the global exposure was worth a potential $10m but Jones said he didn't want the "extra stress". Instead the couple will follow through with holiday flights booked for California today before continuing home in the coming months.

"It's just too much," Jones said of the talk show offers. "We just don't need the extra stress. We are totally booked up for the next three weeks. We have everything planned, we can't change anything."

Thomas added: "We're going on holiday. We've been looking forward to this for months. We're just going to go spend time together."

The photograph shows the couple lying on the road as Jones helped Thomas after she was knocked down during the riot, sparked when the Vancouver Canucks lost the final on Wednesday night.

There had been suspicions that the photo was staged or doctored, but witnesses have since come forward.

One said, on a Canadian website: "The police line rushed the crowd and this couple were trying to stay together, couldn't react in time and were run over by two riot police officers. The girl who was knocked over landed head first on the pavement with her boyfriend landed partially on top of her."

Jones has been in Canada on a 12-month work visa. He and Thomas are believed to be planning to move to Melbourne later this year.