Caroline Flack is risking the wrath of those pesky One Direction fans once again by opening up about her time with the "adorable" Harry Styles.

The Xtra Factor presenter came under fire when her romance with the teen heartthrob hit the headlines last year.

They split in January after Caroline was bombarded with nasty tweets and even death threats from Harry's crazed devotees.

She kept mostly schtum about their fling, but now she's gushed about her time with the floppy-haired hunk - and is still shocked by the interest surrounding their relationship.

She tells You magazine: "We remain very fond of each other because first and foremost we are friends. We got very close for a time but that's between me and Harry; what happened is between me and him, and then, you know, we decided it was best to be just friends.

"Harry is adorable, he is a nice person. He was nice to me; we were nice to each other. We are still friends, he's brilliant, he is so much fun.

"When you go to a public event you know there are going to be photographers there, it's their job. But it's weird when they are outside your house and when they turn up at your mum's house, and when you are driving down your street and you have to swerve because there are three cars behind you and three motorbikes following you wherever you go. But I put myself in the public eye - I have my dream job, so I can't complain. If it got too much I would give it up, so obviously it hasn't got too much."

And she finally opens up about the other Harry in her life - and denies she ever dated the red-haired prince.

She adds: "Prince Harry is a friend of mine but there was never anything romantic between us. His life is so much under the spotlight that I don't want to put any more pressure on him by talking about him other than to say he is a great guy."

> IN PICS: CELEB AGE GAP RELATIONSHIPS

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• Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie - 12 years

  It's easy to forget that there's quite a big gap in age between Brad and Ange, probably because he looks so much younger than his 46 years

• Madonna and Jesus Luz - 28 years

  The 10-year age gap with Guy Richie obviously wasn't enough for Madge, because her next flame was just 23 years old - while she was aged 51. It seemed like a fling at first, but they lasted a fair old while before splitting up in early 2010

• Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon - 10 years

  There's a decade in age between Mariah Carey and her hubby Nick Cannon, she's 39 and he's 29 - but that's not much of a gap at all by modern celeb standards

• Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones - 25 years

  Quarter of a century is a fair old age gap in anybody's book, but Mickey and Cath seem happy enough together - and she was comfortable enough with the reputation that their marriage earned her to mock it in Intolerable Cruelty

• Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster - 26 years

  For years Rod was known as the oldest swinger in town, but Penny has firmly tamed his roving ways and he seems devoted to her

• Ronnie Wood and Ekaterina Ivanova - 42 years

  But just to prove that age-gap relationships don't always work out well, Ronnie Wood famously left wife Jo for Ekaterina Ivanova - who is a whopping 42 years his junior. They've long-since broken up, which left Ekaterina free to enter the Celebrity Big Brother house and flirt with Basshunter

• Sam Taylor-Wood and Aaron Johnson - 23 years

  Sam and Aaron are more than 20 years apart, but they haven't let the hefty age gap stop them getting engaged and conceiving a child together

• Stephen Fry and Steven Webb - 27 years

  Stephen Fry had just split up with his partner of 14 years Daniel Cohen when he apparently began consoling himself in the arms of a much younger beau. His rumoured love interest was 25-year-old Steven Webb

• Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes - 16 years

  Plenty of people have been cynical about TomKat's marriage, but we're not goiong to cast any aspersions. Our lawyers wouldn't let us anyway, but they seem happy enough together

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