Jennifer Aniston’s reported burgeoning love affair with co-star Gerard Butler has got right up Brad Pitt’s nose, enough for him to speak to her sternly. ‘Brad’s asking Jen if it’s right for her to be moving from one guy to the next,’ says our insider.

‘He says it’d be better to take a break and decide what she really wants. That strikes a chord with Jen, which is why she’s worried – but it also hides Brad’s true feelings about Gerard.

'When he saw the photos of them together, he realised he could lose Jen emotionally if she got serious with Gerard.  'But some of her friends think it’s a bit rich that Brad’s warning her about the risks of Hollywood players when he’s the one that’s messed her around most of all.’

Gerard, 39, and Jen, 40, appeared wrapped up in each other on the New York set of The Bounty, but he’s now left to promote The Ugly Truth and has dismissed reports of a relationship as 'rubbish'.

In one interview he joked he was as likely to marry Jen as Joan Rivers.  And co-star Eric Winter didn’t help by telling reporters: ‘Gerard enjoys being single.’