Paddy McGuinness has broken his silence over recent romance rumours as he was accused dating his TV co-star.

The comedian, 51, sent his Instagram followers into a frenzy after he shared an album of snaps with Cherry Healey on Inside The Factory and dubbed her a ‘diamond’.

Among the photos, Paddy, whose divorce with wife Christine was finalised in October last year, shared an insight of the two them enjoying a meal out and visiting a book shop.

And this led to fans accusing them of dating and many said that the pair ‘looked very comfortable together’.

He gushed: ‘The whole crew on Inside The Factory have been a joy to work with. A small but perfectly formed team.

‘Also I’d never met @cherryhealey before but we hit it off straight away. Absolutely love working with her, she’s an absolute diamond!’

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Paddy McGuinness has broken his silence over recent romance rumours as he was accused dating his TV co-star

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The comedian, 51, sent his Instagram followers into a frenzy after he shared an album of snaps with Cherry Healey on Inside The Factory and dubbed her a ‘diamond’

But his admiration for the star ignited a flock of comments asking if they were an item in his comment box as one penned: ‘Is this a soft launch of the new Mrs?’

‘Is this your new love? If so all the very best (you look very comfortable together).’

‘I suspect your soulmate.’

But despite excitement from his followers, Paddy broke his silence and confirm that they are in fact just friends.

He replied to his followers: ‘Not at all. She’s just a great person.’

Paddy made his Inside The Factory debut alongside Cherry last month during the BBC show’s Christmas special.

Previously Paddy revealed he was nervous about working with co-host Cherry for the first time, in an interview with The Sun.

He said: ‘That’s always the tricky bit, you hope you get on. But I’m telling you now, me and Cherry do so much laughing.

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Among the photos, Paddy, whose divorce with wife Christine was finalised in October last year, shared an insight of the two them enjoying a meal out and visiting a book shop

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And this led to fans accusing them of dating and many said that the pair ‘looked very comfortable together’

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But despite excitement from his followers, Paddy broke his silence and confirm that they are in fact just friends

‘As soon as I met her, we had the biggest talk and we just got on like that.

‘This is testament to her – when I did my Children in Need challenge, she turned up in Kendal to surprise me – she even brought me up a lasagne she’d made!’

‘I drove in in this big heavy goods vehicle for the first shot. I thought ‘I got my heavy goods licence doing Top Gear, now I’m driving into the place I used to work at 30-odd years ago, hosting another show for the BBC’.

‘When I was that 16-year-old kid who used to walk to work with butties my mum had made me, who’d have thought all these years later, I’d have had all these amazing things go on in my life.

‘It was one of those moments where I thought ‘B****y h***, life eh? It does have its twists and turns’.’

Gregg stepped down from the show last year after the allegations in regard to female factory workers at Nestle, where he was filming at the time.

Sources said he had been ‘rude towards staff’ and spoke to them in a ‘derogatory manner, especially to women’. But he later denied accusations, saying the claims were ‘inaccurate’.

The show visits factories up and down the country to see how our favourite products are made.

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Previously Paddy revealed he was nervous about working with co-host Cherry for the first time, in an interview with The Sun

In the ninth season, Paddy and Cherry visit a host of new factories that produce some of our favourite foods on a massive scale, from sliced bread to flapjacks and sausage rolls.

In a Christmas special the duo visit a chocolate factory in Belgium to learn how they produce an incredible four million individual chocolate shells every single day.

Gregg is facing accusations of inappropriate behaviour across five shows over a 17-year period.

Staff members and former contestants, including celebrities such as Emma Kennedy and Kirsty Wark, have claimed the former greengrocer made them feel uncomfortable on set.

Gregg has been accused of a raft of inappropriate behaviour including walking around on set naked except for a sock on his penis, getting changed in front of female staff, and even groping crew members.

Other allegations include sharing intimate details of his s3x life, becoming fixated on a female staff member who was dating women and asking her about the ‘logistics’ and flirting with younger women on set.

Gregg stepped down from MasterChef while an external investigation is conducted by production company Banijay UK.

It was reported by The Times that he had allegedly offended certain female staff members at the Nestlé UK factory in York with comments about their weight during a ‘friendly’ conversation.

The comments were non-s3xual but were deemed ‘inappropriate’ and a complaint was lodged with Voltage TV, the production company responsible for developing the show.

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Gregg stepped down from the show last year after the allegations in regard to female factory workers at Nestle, where he was filming at the time

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Gregg then stepped back from MasterChef after nearly 20 years amid an investigation into his alleged misconduct, with Grace Dent is replacing him as judge (pictured with co-host John Torode)

‘He was rude towards staff and continued to talk in a derogatory manner, especially to women.

‘He was given a talking-to and was appalled that he had caused such offence,’ a source said.

Voltage TV asked Wallace to moderate his language and filming continued – but his behaviour seemingly didn’t change.

Staff reportedly informed management that they did not want the show to return while Wallace remained at the helm.