US comedian Jerry Seinfield - whose TV character was notoriously scared of commitment - has married in a Christmas Day ceremony in New York.

The 45-year-old performer wed 28-year-old public relations executive Jessica Sklar in a quiet ceremony conducted by a rabbi after sunset.

The couple wrote their own vows for the ceremony. Seinfeld wore a dark tuxedo and bow tie and Sklar wore a dress by Tommy Hilfiger - the fashion designer she works for.

Seinfeld's private life has been a source of fascination for the US press for much of the 1990s - for five years he dated student Shoshanna Lonstein, who was 16 when they met. She is now a fashion designer.

The reports were encouraged by his character in his self-titled sitcom, a neurotic New York bachelor, always avoiding marriage after somehow finding a fatal flaw in his girlfriends. The show, a worldwide hit, ran from 1990 to 1998.

However, he kept the press away from his wedding - and used a decoy limousine to trick reporters camped outside his home.

He started seeing Sklar in the summer of 1998 - just after she returned from a honeymoon with her then-husband, Broadway producer Eric Nederlander. They divorced shortly after.

The couple have not yet said where they plan to spend their honeymoon.