KRISTEN Stewart has claimed she is a lesbian.

The 19-year-old actress refused to be drawn on rumours that have repeatedly said she is dating her 'Twilight' co-star Robert Pattinson, 23, and says she is going to come up with different ways of avoiding the question.

When quizzed on the rumours, she told Entertainment Weekly: "I've thought about this a lot. There's no answer that's not going to tip you one way or the other.

"Think about every hypothetical situation: Okay, we are. We aren't. I'm a lesbian. I'm just trying to keep something.

"If people started asking me if I was dating my other co-star Taylor Lautner, I'd be like, '**** off!' I would answer the exact same way."

The actress also insisted she would have answered the question honestly if it hadn't been turned into such a "big deal".

She added: "I probably would've answered it if people hadn't made such a big deal about it. But I'm not going to give the finding an answer.

"I know that people are really funny about 'Well, you chose to be an actor, why don't you just give your whole life away?!"

Kristen admitted she and the British actor are "close" but just friends. She said: "I understand why you would assume that, when we lean on each other for support, there must be something more." - DC