Paddy McGuinness has addressed swirling romance rumours after fans became convinced he was secretly dating his Inside The Factory co-host Cherry Healey.

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

The 51-year-old comedian sent his Instagram followers into overdrive when he posted a cosy-looking album of snaps with Cherry from behind the scenes of the BBC show — even describing her as an “absolute diamond”.

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

Among the images were candid moments of the pair enjoying a meal out together and browsing a bookshop, just months after Paddy’s divorce from wife Christine was finalised in October.

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

It didn’t take long for speculation to erupt, with fans flooding his comments.

One wrote: “Is this a soft launch of the new Mrs?”
Another added: “Is this your new love? You look very comfortable together.”
A third chimed in: “I suspect your soulmate.”

But Paddy has now shut down the rumours — insisting the relationship is purely platonic.

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

Replying directly to followers, he clarified: “Not at all. She’s just a great person.”

In the original post, Paddy had praised the Inside The Factory team, writing: “The whole crew 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!”

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

Paddy joined the programme last month during its Christmas special, making his debut alongside Cherry after stepping in for Gregg Wallace.

He later admitted he’d been nervous about meeting his new co-host, telling The Sun: “That’s always the tricky bit, you hope you get on. But me and Cherry do so much laughing — as soon as I met her we just clicked.”

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

He also revealed how Cherry surprised him during his Children in Need challenge by turning up in Kendal with a homemade lasagne.

“I was driving in this massive HGV for the first shot,” he recalled. “I used to work in a factory 30-odd years ago, walking in with butties my mum made me — now I’m hosting a BBC show. Life really does have its twists and turns.”

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)

Paddy replaced Gregg Wallace after the former MasterChef judge stepped down amid multiple allegations relating to inappropriate behaviour towards female factory workers during filming at Nestlé and on several productions over a 17-year period.

Gregg has denied the claims, calling them inaccurate, but later stepped back from MasterChef while Banijay UK conducts an external investigation. He has been accused of a range of misconduct, including inappropriate language, behaviour towards women on set and offensive remarks, leading to Grace Dent taking over his judging role.

The ninth series of Inside The Factory sees Paddy and Cherry travelling the UK — and even Belgium — to uncover how everything from sliced bread to chocolate shells is made, with the Christmas special revealing the production of four million chocolate shells a day.

Despite the rumours, Paddy insists there’s no romance behind the scenes — just a strong professional friendship that fans perhaps read a little too much into.