Posted on stuff.co.nz: All Blacks hunk Byron Kelleher [pictured] and his American porn star-turned-model partner Ashley Spalding have split.

Spalding, who starred in more than 80 porn flicks under the name Kaylani Lei, has returned to the US and is believed to be considering a return to the adult movie industry.

A source told Sunday News the high-profile relationship broke up about three weeks ago.

“I was told (Spalding) was back in the States for a few weeks, going through some personal issues, and she was deciding what she was going to do with her future … whether she’s going to go back into the (porn) industry,” the source said.

All Blacks media manager Scott Compton told Sunday News: “Byron would prefer not to comment at this stage.”

But a source close to the star halfback, who played in last night’s test against Ireland told Sunday News that Kelleher was “doing it tough” since the break-up.

“Byron is a pretty laid-back guy but he’s doing it a bit tough because the relationship was such a high-profile one,” the rugby source said.

“There was a lot of interest in it from the media and I guess it’s a bit embarrassing now that it has ended.

“But Byron knows who his mates are and we’ll stick by him. People break-up every day. He’ll be alright.”

Kelleher, 29, revealed his love for the Singaporean-born former porn actress – who starred in such adult movies as Hong Kong Gooey and Me Luv U Long Time – in an exclusive interview with Sunday News last July.

“This is two people doing whatever they do in life and meeting together and chemistry happens. That’s what’s happened and we’re in love and happy,” he said at the time.

Kelleher acknowledged his link to adult entertainment would raise eyebrows among his teammates and the public. But it didn’t bother him.

The couple met in December 2004 and shortly after she turned her back on the porn industry. One of the few porn stars to successfully cross over into mainstream entertainment, Spalding had appeared on the top-rating Howard Stern Show with rap sensation 50 Cent.

Kelleher and Spalding became media darlings in New Zealand, featuring in women’s magazines.

Last month, they talked in New Idea about the lifestyle home they had set up near Tauranga – including their custom-built, outdoor four-poster bed, from which they could watch their favourite movies projected onto a nearby wall.

Spalding also spoke of the couple’s heartache over the theft of her cellphone – which contains her only video footage of her father.

In March, Kelleher contacted police about the theft – after being alerted by Sunday News that a man called “Mark” had approached us, asking for $100,000 for a memory card from a cellphone he said was Spalding’s.

“Mark” claimed the memory card contained pictures of the couple in the nude and video clips of them.

Sunday News rejected his sick offer and immediately warned Chiefs star Kelleher.