Chris Noth meets London fans yesterday at Once Upon a Tea Cup. (Susan Bradnam, Sun Media)

Sorry ladies. Mr. Big is really taken now.

We know actor Chris Noth, a.k.a. Mr. Big of Sex and the City fame, married his on-screen girlfriend Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, last year in the movie of the same name.

But yesterday he dropped a bombshell in London, albeit quietly.

In real life, Noth chose London to confirm yesterday his engagement to Windsor native Tara Wilson, mother of his one-year-old son, Orion.

Noth was in London to promote the latest shop in his Once Upon A Tea Cup chain that he owns with Wilson and her sister, Stephanie Cence.

Noth spent about three hours at the Southdale and Wonderland roads teashop to help local owners Laura and Chris DeGroot. He'd had to postpone a planned visit in August.

He's already talking about more shops in big cities in Canada and the United States.

In an interview, Noth referred to Wilson as his fiancee.

Media reports had circulated that the couple was engaged, but they had been quickly squelched.

"I just didn't like to have the press announce it," Noth explained yesterday.

Wilson, in another room holding Orion, was wearing a stunning solitaire diamond ring. When asked how many carats, she said she wasn't sure. "They said three."

She said Noth bought it at an antique jewelry store.

Just as stunning was Noth as he entered the teashop. Wearing a crisp white shirt and blue jeans, Noth, chewing gum, called the shop "beautiful."

All eyes moved with him as he made his way through the room, full of customers and media. Even those on the outside waiting for their tables to open peered in the windows and took photographs through the glass.

"He's very hot," said Carol Murchland, a regular customer. "I saw through the window and I thought, 'He looks just like he does on TV.' "

Susan Jacobs went one further. "He looks even better in person. A breath of fresh air."

Jacobs received a Sex and the City book called Kiss and Tell, a behind-the-scenes look at the popular show, for her fundraiser, Style in the City, on Oct. 15. Noth autographed it for her.

Jacobs chatted with Noth about his humanitarian work and mentioned to her his involvement in Rainforest Action Network, which fights for environmental protection.

"I'm trying to get the world to know more. It's really at the forefront of trying to save us from ourselves," he said.

He was pleased to learn London is called the Forest City.

Noth, also known for his role as Det. Mike Logan in Law & Order, is back in New York today to continue filming the second Sex and the City movie in theatres in May.

He's also busy with the television show The Good Wife, which debuted last month.

In that show, he plays a state attorney who resigns over a call-girl scandal.

"It's never a dull moment," he said of his schedule.

Laura DeGroot was happy Noth made good on his promise to come to London after he had to cancel in August.

"People want to come and check it out (because of Noth's connection). Once they're here and they try our teas and our food . . . it gets the word out for us."

kathy.rumleski@sunmedia.ca