Gary Coleman marries in Nevada mountains

Diff'rent Strokes star Gary Coleman has married in secret in Nevada, USA.

Coleman, 40, wed Shannon Price, 22, with no friends or family present after he surprised the actress with a mountaintop ceremony on her birthday.

He told Inside Edition: "Nobody was around but the minister, preacher, the videographers, the photographer, the helicopter pilot and us."

The former child actor said the age difference between the couple was irrelevant to him.

He commented: "I don't have issues with age, I have issues with intelligence. She's more intelligent than I am and that's what matters to me."

Price said she was happy they kept the ceremony private because she doesn't want to lose her "identity".

"I just want my own identity as well because I don't want to be known as Gary Coleman's wife," she commented.

The pair met in 2006 while filming the comedy Church Ball.