Phil Collins has hit back at his ex-wife Orianne Cevey's "scurrilous" and "grossly exaggerated" claims that he refused to shower and lived in squalor after becoming a recluse.
The former couple originally split in 2006 after seven years of marriage but reconciled in 2015, until parting ways again earlier this year.
Cevey found love again and married her new partner, businessman Thomas Bates, in August and apparently moved him into the beachfront Miami compound she shared with Collins - prompting him to launch legal action to demand she vacate his property.
Last month, the two parties reached an agreement to have Cevey and Bates leave the pad by mid-January, but the Swiss native is continuing to fight her ex in court, now claiming he is breaking a promise to give her part-ownership of the $40 million (£30.3 million) home.
In the latest development in the court battle, Cevey claimed Collins became a recluse last year, refusing to socialise, turning his back on music and reportedly abusing painkillers, all while also failing to take care of his personal hygiene for months as he allegedly started living in squalor.
"Philip's stench became so pervasive that he became a hermit, refusing to interact personally with any people," she declared in the legal documents.
However, Collins has disputed his ex's version of events in a response filed to court by his lawyers, calling her allegations "immaterial and impertinent" to the case and even going as far as likening her claims to a means of "extortion".
"They are scandalous, scurrilous, unethical and, for the most part, patently false or grossly exaggerated," Collins' attorneys wrote. "These false and scandalous allegations are again included only so that they can be delivered by defendants to the media to try to damage Phil Collins' reputation in an effort to extort money."
