Anna Nicole Smith cuddles up to and kisses photographer Larry Birkhead who is rumored to be the father of her new born daughter, Hannah. The pair were pictured at a party in July 2004. Photo Credit: Splash News

New York, Sept 18: The self-proclaimed father of Anna Nicole Smith's newborn daughter insists that the former Playboy model ran away to the Bahamas to give birth, as she wanted to cut him out of their baby's life.

Larry Birkhead, a celebrity photographer and journalist who dated the reality-TV ditz on and off for two years, claimed that Smith, 38, forced him keep his parental status a secret, and hence ran off to the Caribbean to keep their child away from him.

"I've never had a person take off and run away from me, especially to another country," the New York Post quoted Birkhead, as telling "Entertainment Tonight" in an interview airing tomorrow night and again Tuesday evening on WCBS/Channel 2.

"I found out through friends" that the baby was born, Birkhead said.

"I've had to stay glued to the TV. The reason why, I was told, she went to the Bahamas was, I guess if a baby is born in the Bahamas and the mother is a resident of the Bahamas, I think it would be harder for a father who wanted to participate in a baby's life to be able to do so," he added.

Birkhead, however, longs to see both the mum Smith and the baby, saying he wants to be an equal supporter. He's even gone as far as attending infant-care classes and taking child CPR classes to prepare. (ANI)