Niall Horan's rumored ex-girlfriend Barbara Palvin calls the 1D hearthrob 'a friend' as she downplays 2013 - 2014 romance

Up until this point, most of the world (at least whomever was interested) thought that Niall Horan and Barbara Palvin broke up jus before Valentine's Day after a few months of rumored dating. We never confirmed the relationship, but reports and photos were evidence enough for plenty of gossip websites. But now a new interview has the Hungarian supermodel saying she and Niall were just friends!

"He's my friend. I've always been a girl [who] hangs out with boys, and I'm not going to change that, even though people write stuff about me," she explained, putting a shocking twist on this rumor. "I play football - I'm not going to change my personality."

She got back to talking about her buddy Niall, saying: "He's a lovely guy - fun, Irish, sarcastic all the time. But, I'm sarcastic too."

So maybe we jumped to conclusions on this relationship or perhaps she's just saving face in the aftermath of the break up. What do you think?

She's at least saying nice things about Niall and One Direction.

"I like them too, they're all very nice people," she said. "They're all so hot."

Meanwhile, Niall was recently spotted on an apparent date with Selena Gomez on Valentine's Day weekend. This has clearly caused plenty of uproar in the gossip world, especially since eyewitnesses claimed the two were kissing on this date.

Palvin probably doesn't have to worry about her love life when you think about it, though. She IS a Victoria's Secret model after all.