GIRLS ALOUD - HARDING BOYFRIEND DENIES OBSESSION RUMOURS

GIRLS ALOUD singer SARAH HARDING's new boyfriend TOM CRANE has blasted reports he developed an unhealthy obsession with the star in the years prior to their romance. DJ Crane blames a bitter former acquaintance for spreading the lies when the couple first hooked up last year (07), insisting he merely harboured a fleeting interest in Harding after noticing her on 2002 British TV talent show Popstars: The Rivals. He tells OK! magazine, "Let me clear up a few things about my supposed fascination with Sarah. Some t**t I used to know sold a story to stick the knife in, saying that before I started going out with her, I was really, really into her, in an obsessive kind of way. "That's definitely not my style. I mean, I knew she'd been on one of those shows but I thought it was Popstars, but it was Popstars: The Rivals. And I had seen a few episodes and said at the time, I liked the blonde one."