Paula Patton was ghostwriting for Robin Thicke

Los Angeles, April 23 (IANS) Actress Paula Patton has secretly been ghostwriting for her former husband and singer Robin Thicke for years.

The "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol" star said that she has been contributing to the singer's work using the pseudonym Max Haddington, often going by just the first name, which is listed in the credits to tracks like "Magic", "Dreamworld", "Get in my way" and "Diamonds", reports aceshowbiz.com.

"We did it together since we were kids. I was with Robin since I was 15 years old," she said during an interview on New York's Hot 97 radio station.

"You know, Robin and I wrote a lot of songs together. My name on the albums is Max Haddington," she added.

Patton chose to use a pen name to avoid any unwanted negative attention.

"I was like (to Robin), 'Well, Max Haddington will just seem like another writer with you, so it doesn't seem like you are writing with your girl'," she recalled.

The couple got married in 2005 but parted ways in 2014 and divorced a year later. Despite their ups and downs, including their messy custody battle over son Julian, Patton insists she was always "so proud" of Thicke for achieving his career dreams.