Complaint made over Ali Mau Breakfast outburst

TVNZ presenter Ali Mau's televised attack on a woman's magazine, which put a spotlight on her lesbian romance, has drawn a formal complaint saying her outburst was inaccurate.

TVNZ confirmed a Broadcasting Standards Authority complaint had been lodged over Mau's appearance on its Breakfast show.

The dispute is understood to centre around the timing of photographs featured in a Woman's Day article, titled 'Alison Mau's sleepover', which claims Mau had a relationship with hip-hop dance teacher and aerobics champion Karleen Edmonds.

Mau lashed out at the magazine a week ago saying a Woman's Day photographer had followed her children and her around for a month.

"In my mind, that's a gross intrusion of our privacy and, frankly, more than a little creepy," Mau told the show.

She pointed to two photographs in the magazine feature, one which she said was taken the week before publication and the other a month prior.

But the magazine's publisher, ACP Media chief executive Paul Dykzeul, has said the photographs in the magazine were taken less than 24 hours apart - although it is not clear if Mau and Dykzeul were talking about the same photos or timeframes.

Dykzeul told Spy: "I am galled by how grossly inaccurate she got the facts. How can a state broadcasting television channel allow someone to vent their personal angst on TV?"

TVNZ said it could not disclose who the complainant was, or any further details of the case undergoing a formal process.