Sarah Ferguson Says She Is "Just Friends" With Rumored Boyfriend Manuel Fernandez

The former royal was said to be dating a technology guru

This is no royal affair. 

Sarah Ferguson is setting the record straight about a rumored budding romance between her and director, producer and entrepreneur Manuel Fernandez. 

"Manuel is a wonderful person, but we are just friends—friends and business partners,' she told the Daily Mail. "I'm the ambassador for his new lifestyle app, vVoosh, which is launching this year."

The Duchess of York was previously married to Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, for a decade before divorcing in May 1996. Together, they share two daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie of York.

Since the split, Ferguson has remained publicly single until she stepped out with Fernandez at amfAR's 22nd Cinema Against AIDS Gala in May 2015, fueling gossip that she had launched a new relationship. 

Ferguson started 2015 and her 55th year with a major physical reveal—a 55 pound weight loss. Despite her happiness with her slimmer physique, she said her food addiction partly saved her life throughout her trying personal times. 

"I've been a comfort eater since I was about 12 years old and I used food as my friend," she said during an interview on Today. "In fact, the size of my ass probably saved my life. Sorry, to speak like that, but let's be honest. Had I not just chosen food as my friend, I would have chosen something else.

"A lot of people turn to shopping, alcohol, smoking, any other addiction," she continued. "My addiction was food. I used it to suppress my feelings and therefore every time I went through something—a salacious lie the media might tell about me—I ate to compensate."