Harry Potter star Tom Felton has spoken of his 'secret love' for co-star Emma Watson in his new memoir.
The 35-year-old, who shot to fame by playing antagonist character Draco Malfoy in the eight-movie series, said his on-set friendship with Hermione Granger actress Emma deepened into a special bond after a frosty start.
"I loved and admired her as a person in a way I could never explain to anybody else," said Tom, who has spent years denying there was a spark between the pair.
After first meeting at an audition when Tom was 11 and Emma was nine, he recalls Emma pointing to a boom microphone and asking him 'what's that?' to which he says he replied: "It means they are recording us, obviously."
Discussing that first interaction, he added: "My relationship with Emma did not start well. She'd have been forgiven for not wanting much to do with me. It got worse."
After securing their respective roles Tom said he would often join his fellow Slytherin cast members on cigarette breaks listening to rap music. On one of those occasions he said word had got out that Emma had put together 'a little dance show in her dressing room that she wanted to present it to us at lunchtime'.
Tom explained: "We were predictably dismissive. We sniggered our way down to Emma's show and the sniggers grew louder as she danced. We were just being s***** boys, largely out of awkwardness and because we thought taking the p*** was cool. I did feel like a bit of a d**k, and rightly so.
"In the end, it was up to one of the hair and make-up ladies to tell me what was what."
However, he added: "I've always had a secret love for Emma, though not perhaps in the way that people might want to hear. That isn't to say that there's never been a spark between us. There most definitely has, only at different times."
Later in the memoir Tom spoke of the time he was first told that Emma had a crush on him - when the pair were 15 and 12.
"Rumours started to abound that there was more to our relationship than we were letting on. I denied that I liked her in that way, but the truth was different.
"My girlfriend at the time knew straight away that there was something unspoken between us. I remember using the familiar old line, 'I love her like a sister.' But there was more to it than that.
"I don't think I was ever in love with Emma, but I loved and admired her as a person in a way that I could never explain to anybody else… we were kindred spirits. I know for certain I'll always have Emma's back and she'll always have mine too."
Fans were excited by the possibility of potential mutual spark in 2019 when Emma visited him at his home in Venice Beach, California.
Tom's Instagram snaps at the time of the pair sat playing guitar in their pyjamas only fuelled speculation further and sent social media into a frenzy, but alas for those fans, no relationship ensued.
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