The National Enquirer’s cover story this week that reads “Divorce Drama: Courteney Cox’s husband caught with beauty” isn’t quite as damning to David Arquette as you would assume reading the headline. He was caught flirting with a woman at a bar while his wife was across the street. And the person who busted him was none other than Courtney’s former small screen husband, Matthew Perry. How is that for irony? Like a story we just reported about Avril Lavigne’s husband, Arquette, 37, had his arm around the woman and seemed a little too cosy with her. When Perry showed up he high tailed it out of there though.

“David was standing at the bar when he spotted a stunning young woman sitting at a nearby table,” the eyewitness recalls. “He practically stared holes through her from across the room before casually strolling over to chat.”

The two talked, but the attractive woman brushed him off. David walked back to the bar, where he quickly latched onto another woman, a beautiful brunette, said the eyewitness.

“Unlike David’s first target, this woman – who appeared to be in her early 20s – seemed flattered by his flirting,” the source confided.

“After they talked for a while, “David eased his arm around her and they got caught up in an intense conversation. At one point, David grabbed her face in his hands so they were practically nose to nose. It almost looked like he was going in for a kiss!”

But [his] flirting came to a screeching halt when Matthew Perry tapped him on the shoulder, said the eyewitness.

“When David turned around and saw Matt, the look on his face was priceless!” said the source.

“David pretended like he and his companion were complete strangers, and he practically left skid marks on the floor making a break for the door!”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, October 13, 2008]

What is with these married famous guys flirting with other women at bars? Do they think they won’t get caught or that it’s somehow ok because they’re not taking them home or to a hotel? Comparatively it’s pretty harmless but it’s still not a good sign for their relationship. Courteney, 44, was said to be across the street dining at Il Sole with friends at the time.

Courteney told Marie Claire in a recent interview that she’s very much in love with her husband, but that it hasn’t always gone so well for them. She said “I’m so in love with David right now, I’m starting to really appreciate how ‘there’ he is for me. But in any relationship, there are times that you’re disconnected. You can see how relationships end if you don’t work through it.” And they can also end if one person is cheating. Courteney and David have been married for nine years and I hope this story is false or overblown and that they’re doing fine.

David Arquette is shown out with his four year-old daughter, Coco, on 8/2/08. He is also shown with Courteney on 6/23/08. Credit: Fame Pictures