Australian singer and actress Natalie Imbruglia is to marry singer boyfriend Daniel Johns, frontman with rock band Silverchair.

Johns' record company EMI announced the news, revealing the pair got engaged shortly before Christmas.

Speculation about an imminent engagement began after Johns was seen shopping for a ring last week in a jewellery store in his home town of Newcastle, 90 miles north of Sydney.

The couple, who are currently on holiday in Australia, have not yet set a date for the wedding.

Imbruglia is the face of L'Oreal

Imbruglia, 27, became a household name in both Australia and the UK while playing teenager Beth in the soap opera Neighbours.

She later turned her attention to music, shooting to international fame in 1998 with the album Left of the Middle.

Her second album, White Lilies Island, was released in 2002.

Imbruglia was voted best new artist at the MTV Video Music Awards this year and is now a model for cosmetics giant L'Oreal.

Johns, 23, took his grunge-rock outfit Silverchair to the top of Australia's charts and won five of the country's top music awards - the Arias - in October.

He has been diagnosed with a rare form of early onset arthritis and has only performed publicly once in the past six months, at the Aria awards ceremony.

Imbruglia, who is now based in London, accompanied Johns last year during his lengthy treatment sessions at a Los Angeles clinic.

In the past she has been romantically linked to Friends star David Schwimmer, rock star Lenny Kravitz and racing driver Jacques Villeneuve.