AceShowbiz - Madonna's spokesperson has rebuked speculation the Material Girl has started smoking again after she was snapped holding a cigarette - insisting it was just a prop for her new movie project. The pop superstar has stepped behind the camera to direct "W.E.", which tells the story of Britain's King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne after falling in love with American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

Filming began recently and Madonna headed to France earlier last week to direct a number of shoots. She was snapped on location holding a cigarette and a lighter, prompting reports she had taken up smoking again, a habit she quit when she was younger.

But a spokesperson for Madonna has told Britain's Daily Mail the gossip is not true, insisting the singer was merely holding a prop cigarette for one of the stars of the movie. Abbie Cornish, James D'Arcy and James Fox star in the biopic.