Harry Styles' rumored ex-girlfriend opened up on the backlash she faced from the public during their relationship.

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The One Direction singer apparently dated X Factor U.K. host Caroline Flack in 2011 when he was 17 and she was 31. In an autobiography posted in People on Sunday, Flack revealed that she knew Styles had a thing for her before anything happened with them.

"I already knew that he had a crush on me, he'd made it pretty obvious. He'd said it in magazines and he'd said it to friends," Flack wrote. "Although it was just a bit of fun we decided it was best to keep it to ourselves...we were both single, we got on well and we had a laugh."

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She admitted that she "never felt" too much older than Styles despite the age difference. But when the romance got out to the public, her life took a nasty turn.

"It began to go wrong when Harry was pictured coming out of my house one morning. And once that was out, it was open season," Flack wrote. "After that anyone could say anything. In the street people started shouting at me 'pedophile' and 'pervert.'"

The X Factor host also claims that One Direction fans would threaten her on social media, which lowered her confidence.

"Until this point I'd been comfortable in my own skin," she admitted. "I was comfortable with my age, with my life, with the way I looked. I had never really had any doubts or insecurities about myself. Then I actually started questioning who I really was. Am I fat? Am I old? Am I ugly?"

Tags: Harry Styles caroline flack