Eddie Redmayne: I never dated Swift

Eddie Redmayne says rumours claiming he dumped Taylor Swift were "absolute nonsense".

The British actor was reported to have enjoyed a brief relationship with the American country pop star after they met in late 2011 while she was auditioning for new musical movie Les Misérables.

According to reports, Eddie then broke up with Taylor after she lost out on the role of Eponine to Samantha Barks. Eddie, who plays Marius in the film, insists he was never involved with the music star.

In a new interview with UK magazine Glamour, Eddie revealed he only spent "an hour" with Taylor during her audition and then briefly met the singer again at one of her concerts.

"It was absolute nonsense," he says of the romance rumours. "We had a chat behind the stage for seven minutes. So I met Taylor Swift for an hour and seven minutes. Even by my standards, that's a pretty brief relationship! I find it offensive because it was [flails arms] I've 'dumped' her. Then you get emails from your friends going, 'Dude, is it true…?' 'No!' Then they don't believe you."

The 30-year-old hunk remains tight-lipped about his personal life. Spending time with Kristen Stewart while working on the 2008 movie The Yellow Handkerchief made him realise how stressful it is when your private life is the subject of public scrutiny.

"Sorry," he replied when asked if he has a girlfriend at the moment. "It's something I try to keep protected. I've done press with Kristen Stewart and it's hard."

Eddie shows off his impressive vocal talents in Les Misérables.

The star loves to sing and often belts out the words to his favourite soft rock tunes when he is at home.

"I'm embarrassing myself here. I have a pretty hideous taste in music," he laughed after revealing the first album he bought was by Bon Jovi. "And that's a pretty horrific prospect: a spotty 12 year old in the showing singing Aaaaaaaaawl-waaaaaays!"