Kermit the Frog: That pig isn't my girlfriend

New Muppet show debuts on ABC soon

It's not easy being seen.

Just because you're a celebrity frog hobnobbing around town with a new lady pig in your skinny Muppet arms doesn't mean you're dating her.

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A story in People magazine had said Kermit the Frog wasted no time moving on from his breakup with longtime girlfriend Miss Piggy and was now dating an ABC marketer named Denise.

Not true, says Kermit. They're just "friends."

"While I prefer to keep my personal life private, this is Hollywood, so who am I kidding?" he said in a post Tuesday night. "It is true that I am dating again. However, at this time no one woman--pig or otherwise--is my official 'new girlfriend.' We are simply close friends."

And the response from Miss Piggy? None. She was too busy flirting with William Shatner (aka Capt. Kirk), who wondered if she's now available.

"Very much available, mon cher," she tweeted. "Gimme a call! I'd love to boldly go where no pig has gone before."

Kermit and Miss Piggy, who were together for close to 40 years, have been slinging veiled insults at each other since the breakup was announced last month -- perhaps not so coincidentally in conjunction with the production of their new ABC show, "The Muppets."

"Dating moi is like flying close to the sun," Miss Piggy said at the Television Critics Association gathering in early August. "It was inevitable that Kermit would drop down to the ground while I stayed in the heavens."

In response, Kermit -- who is producing Miss Piggy's "Up Late with Miss Piggy," the show-within-a-show of "The Muppets" -- noted that he was trying to stay above the fray.

"We can be professionals. Well, one of us can. Me," he told the Guardian.

Apparently Miss Piggy has also engaged in diva behavior on set. Her complaints won Kermit a $20 bet.

However, celebrities have lined up behind Miss Piggy. Liam Hemsworth has posted all of one photo to his new Instagram account, and it consists of the "Hunger Games" star with the porcine performer.

Fans of the Muppets -- or bad celebrity behavior -- will have to see how this all plays out on the TV show (which begins September 22, by the way). So far, however, no other Muppet is talking -- even the Swedish Chef. At least, we don't think he's saying anything.