Lara Bingle just "friends" with Danny Cipriani

Lara Bingle has insisted that she is just "friends" with Danny Cipriani.

The Australian model, who was recently eliminated from Dancing with the Stars, was believed to be dating rugby player Cipriani after they were allegedly spotted "canoodling" in a Melbourne nightclub recently. The rumours were further ignited when she described him as a "good guy", while Cipriani then admitted that he and Bingle are "getting to know each other" and labelled them "good friends".

Bingle has now hit back at the reports, saying that the Australian media won't let her have male friends without romantically linking them to her.

"Danny and I are friends," she told the Herald Sun. "It's the same for any guy I'm friends with. I am just continually linked to these men because I have a lot of male friends. The media just can't deal with that."

Bingle used to be engaged to cricketer Michael Clarke, but the couple split after her involvement in a nude photograph scandal last year. Cipriani previously dated British actress Kelly Brook, and has also been linked to singer Tamara Jaber and Australian model Jesinta Campbell.

After Bingle's Dancing with the Stars elimination, judge Todd McKenney described her as not "very bright", adding: "She seems to think the world owes her a living. Poor thing came on the show not expecting to be criticised. But, unfortunately for her, that's what the show is about. Look, we're not just there to heap it on contestants."

Watch Lara Bingle's last performance on Dancing with the Stars below (Australian users only):