Dales actor plays down Piper history

Emmerdale star Lyndon Ogbourne has insisted that Billie Piper was more of a friend than a girlfriend when they grew up in Swindon together.

The 26-year-old actor, better known as Nathan Wylde on the ITV1 drama, recently spoke about how he became close to Piper when they both attended the same drama club as teenagers.

Scotching rumours of a full-blown romance, Ogbourne has now told the Swindon Advertiser: "We were very young, and we may have shared a young snog at some point, but we were basically mates.

"We used each other almost as support - phoning each other because we were going through the same sorts of things."

Ogbourne has previously said that he would like to team up for a project with Piper in the future.

In a recent interview, he explained: "I'd really like the opportunity to work with her. I think she wants to do a play back in London. Obviously she's doing amazing film work and really taking off. But I always thought it would be quite funny to bump into her."