Caroline Flack on Harry Styles romance: 'It was a laugh, until I started being called paedophile in the street'

The 35-year-old television personality isn't afraid to dish the details of her romantic life.

Famously linked to Prince Harry and One Direction star Harry Styles, she reveals all in her new book.

In 2011, when she was 31 she struck up a romance with then-17-year-old heartthrob Harry Styles.

"I already knew that he had a crush on me, he's made it pretty obvious as he's said it in magazines and said it to friends," she told the Sun on Sunday.

At first, she thought nothing of the age gap, as no one in the entertainment industry refers to each other's ages.

"I've never felt I was much older than Harry. I still feel 18 and I probably act that way half the time."

"Although it was just a bit of fun we decided it was best to keep it to ourselves as we were both working for Simon Cowell."

"We were both single, we got on well and we had a laugh. It was only when it become public knowledge that things turned sour. At the beginning it was all very playful. He joked about being attracted to older women."

However, once Harry's die-hard fans became aware of the romance, she became the subject of hurtful comments both online and on the street.

"It began to go wrong when he was pictured coming out of my house one morning. And that was that. In the street people started shouting 'paedophile' at me in the street and 'pervert'."

After their brief romance, Caroline was offered €1.35 million to be the face of a cougar website.

In terms of Prince Harry, Caroline reveals she was introduced to the royal after she split from her boyfriend.

"On a personal level, I really like him and he's a friend," she said.

"I was sitting there and he arrived with a few others in tow and we all spent the evening chatting and laughing."

"To meet a prince is so unlikely it would be weird not to acknowledge it."

"However once the story got out, that was it, we had to stop seeing each other."

"I was no longer Caroline Flack, TV presenter, I was Caroline Flack, Prince Harry's bit of rough," she lamented.

"The thing about Prince Harry is that he has no choice. He's not some egotistical rock star who wants loads of attention. That is his life, he didn't ask for it but he just has to deal with it."