Travis Barker: 'I never dated Kim Kardashian'

Blink-182 rocker Travis Barker is glad he never acted on his feelings for his former girlfriend Paris Hilton's assistant Kim Kardashian, because he enjoys her friendship.

The drummer admits he was smitten with Kim, but couldn't bring himself to cheat on his then-girlfriend.

However, friends and even Paris herself were certain Travis and Kim were a secret couple, and Hilton took issue with the gossip after she and the tattooed star split.

"The truth was nothing was happening," the rocker tells Access Hollywood Live. "She was just a sweetheart. We couldn't be anything more than friends.

"Kim had done some modeling for my clothing company... and there was talk, news that we were together and my ex got really mad and threw a drink on her. Everyone thought, y'know, that we were hooking up, but we weren't hooking up. The truth was we were just friends."

As a result, there's no bad blood between Kim and Travis, and it's always pleasant when they run into each other.

"I just saw Kim recently... and it's nice," he adds. "That's the other good thing when you don't hook up; we can still be friends years later."