Nicole Scherzinger has denied any romantic involvement with Chris Brown, insisting that the pair are just friends.

Rumours about the two R&B stars’ relationship surfaced last month after Brown was spotted giving her a kiss on the cheek outside a Los Angeles nightclub.

But the former Pussycat Doll, currently dating Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, told The Sun that such stories are nonsense:

“You are always going to have people saying something or having a picture. But it is complete dross if you and your partner know what the truth is.

“Chris Brown and I are definitely just mates — I have known him since he was younger than 16. We were just talking. Even my mum said, ‘I saw a picture of you’.It’s the same when Lewis had some random girls sitting in the lobby.”

The 34-year-old, currently in the middle of her first series as a judge on The X-Factor, also revealed she believes nothing happened when her boyfriend was also snapped with a group of women at a London hotel:

“Can’t girls just be sitting in the lobby? Maybe they were going to the same party.”