Eddie Murphy and his ex-wife have left bosses of Ebony magazine red faced after announcing they’ve split a day before the publication put them at the top of a Hottest Couples list.

On Wednesday, Murphy confirmed he and Tracey Edmonds were planning to remain just "friends", after opting not to follow up their 1 January (08) wedding in Bora Bora with a more legally-binding ceremony on American soil.

The news came the day before the new issue of Ebony magazine, which features the couple on the cover, hit the streets in America.

Murphy and Edmonds join Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Hounsou, Usher and Tameka Foster, Jay-Z and Beyonce and Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri among Ebony magazine’s top 10 black couples.