Actor Charlie Sheen gestures towards the media as he leaves the Pitkin County Courthouse after a sentencing hearing in Aspen, Colorado August 2, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

Former "Two and A Half Men" star Charlie Sheen on Tuesday lost a bid to win sole custody of his young sons from ex-wife Brooke Mueller, celebrity news website TMZ.com reported.

Sheen and Mueller spent about two hours in a closed-door Los Angeles court hearing on who was best suited to care for two year-old Max and Bob.

But the judge in the case ruled that the custody order should remain unchanged, leaving Mueller as the primary carer for the boys, TMZ reported.

Sheen, 45, who was fired from the hit CBS TV comedy in March, and his third wife have both made repeated trips to rehab for drug and alcohol addiction.

But lawyers for Sheen had argued on Tuesday that Mueller, 33, has recently relapsed and was no longer fit to take care of the boys.

Mueller declined to comment after the hearing but winked at reporters and gave the thumbs-up sign, E! Online reported. Sheen left without speaking to reporters and headed for Washington D.C., where he is due to appear in his one-man "Violent Torpedo of Truth" show on Tuesday night.

Sheen and Mueller divorced earlier this year after the actor was convicted of assaulting her in a drunken argument in December 2009.

Mueller was awarded primary physical custody of the twins in the divorce settlement. Last month, she won a temporary restraining order against Sheen, and the two children were removed by police from the actor's home.

Sheen was fired for insulting producers of "Two and a Half Men" in a series of erratic, rambling interviews in March shortly after completing treatment, unusually at his home, following a 36-hour cocaine fueled party.