3AM: Blunt's DUTIFUL! Exclusive: "We're still an item" says girlfriend.

Byline: Kiki King, Eva Simpson & Caroline Hedley

JAMES Blunt is no love-rat insists his long-term girlfriend - despite reports of his fling with Tara Palmer-Tomkinson.

Camilla Boler - the inspiration behind Blunt's hit single You're Beautiful - is standing by her man in the face of the devastating news that James is cheating on her with the I'm A Celebrity... star.

Following the revelations in our sister paper the Sunday Mirror at the weekend that James, 30, had a night of passion with Tara after she flew to New York to see him, an enraged Camilla told 3am: "We're still an item."

Asked if she'd spoken to James after he was linked with TPT, she retorted: "What do you think?"

Blonde Camilla, whose late father was Kitchens Direct tycoon Stephen Boler, added that she had confronted James, who had denied the whole thing.

She went on to brand Tara a "publicity-seeker", and said she was taking the rumours of a romance with a "whole canister of salt".

Meanwhile, 34-year-old Tara has refused to confirm or deny reports of her "intimate moment" with James. But yesterday, she added fuel to the fire saying: "I don't care what Camilla says. I don't even know the girl."

And when asked about James, she smiled and said, teasingly: "No comment."

James and Camilla's 18-month romance has been put under growing pressure by his rise to fame. Last September they had a brief break because his constant touring was driving them apart. Yet she was at his side at last month's Brits, where he scooped the gongs for Best Pop Act and Best British Male Solo Artist But now that his career is taking off in the US - You're Beautiful shot straight to No.1 over there - it will put their relationship under even more strain.

And that will delight Tara, who is said to be besotted with the ex-Army captain and believes he could be the love of her life. In her weekly magazine column she once wrote: "My pal James Blunt came round for a cup of tea during rehearsals for the Brit Awards last week."

Another time she revealed: "I was in heaven last week when I went to see the incredibly talented James Blunt in concert. I caught up with him after the show and he was absolutely charming."

Spokespeople for Blunt - who has also been linked to supermodel Petra Nemcova and Jessica Sutta of Pussycat Dolls - insist that he and Tara are "just friends".

No doubt, Camilla will send him Back To Bedlam if it turns out they aren't...

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TOGETHER: Camilla is standing by Blunt