Reality TV star Chantelle Houghton failed in a bid to force a magazine to reveal its source for a story it planned to publish about her.
She wanted Closer to identify its source after claiming that information relating to her had been leaked.
But a high court judge, Mr Justice Hayden, refused her request with a resounding defence of journalism by observing: "The integrity of sources is fundamental to the operation of a free press in a democratic society."
Houghton's lawyer, Gina Allwood, had explained that her client had become concerned when the magazine told the star's publicist that it "wished to go to press".
But the judge told Allwood that launching an inquiry into the identity of the source would serve no benefit. Details of the information she said had been leaked cannot be revealed for legal reasons.
Houghton, who sprang to fame while appearing on Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother in 2006, writes a column for one of Closer's rival magazines, New! She did not attend the hearing.
Sources: BBC/Daily Telegraph
