George Clooney reveals why he's retiring his romantic hero image

George Clooney confessed it's time to accept his Hollywood heartthrob days are over and that he will no longer be 'kissing girls' on screen.

The 64-year-old actor, who has shared sizzling onscreen chemistry for decades with actresses including Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones, said his age now rules out any such roles.

He told Daily Mail's Richard Eden how he planned to navigate the switch following in the footsteps of a fellow acting icon: 

'I've been trying to go the route Paul Newman did: "OK, well, I'm not kissing a girl any more'. 

George is married to Amal since 2014 and shares eight-year-old twins Ella and Alexander. 

On accepting the passage of time, he added: 'When I turned 60, I had a conversation with my wife. I said, 'Look, I can still play basketball with the boys. I play with 25-year-old guys'.

'I can still hang, I'm in shape. But in 25 years, I'm 85 years old. It doesn't matter how many granola bars you eat, that's a real number.' 

Earlier this month George gave insight into family life with his twins as she admitted that he 'had kids late so I could spend time with them.'