One is 7ft 1in, while the other is just 5ft 2in, but Shaquille O’Neal and Nicole ‘Hoopz’ Alexander isn’t letting that get in the way of their love for each other.

The couple stepped out together for a shopping trip in Calabasas, California, and despite the massive height difference, the pair were still able to hold hands as they strolled down the street.

Although a kiss was a bit tricky to manoeuvre, the former NBA basketball star tried his best by picking up Nicole and giving her a big hug in a store doorway.

The tall and the short of it: Shaquille O’Neal and Nicole Alexander stepped out to go shopping in Calabasas, California

Earlier in the day the couple had also gone to the cinema to watch Rise of the Planet Of The Apes in Los Angeles.

The remake of the classic 1968 film stars James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto and Tom Felton.Shaquille has been dating reality TV star Nicole since last summer and the pair have been virtually inseparable since.

Nicole, 28, is best known for winning the VH1 reality TV show Flavor of Love and I Love Money.

Kiss me Shaq! The former NBA basketball player tried to steal a kiss from the reality TV star but she could hardly reach high enough

She managed to win a whopping $250,000 (£152,262) from winning the later in 2008.

While the 39-year-old former LA Lakers star is said to be worth an estimated $250million.

Shaq and Nicole didn’t flash their wealth during their shopping trip yesterday though and simply strolled around in casual shorts and vest tops.

The divorced sportsman has four children with his ex-wife Shaunie Nelson, named Shareef, Amirah, Shaqir and Me’arah, and a daughter from another previous relationship (Taahirah).

Happy couple: Shaq and Nicole posed for photographs after they went to see the film Rise of the Planet of the Apes in Los Angeles earlier in the day

And his ex Shaunie, with whom he is still facing a bitter divorce, is now the reality TV producer of US show Basketball Wives.

But she recently revealed that she’s not happy with the direction of the show and said: ‘I never imagined it would be a group of ladies fighting and arguing that way that they do. That was never the plan.’

Since retiring from professional basketball, Shaquille was sworn in as an honorary police officer by a Miami Beach Police Chief in 2005.

On the court: Shaq playing for the Phoenix Suns in 2008 against the Los Angeles Lakers in Phoenix, Arizona