(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Rihanna didn't "intimidate" Dudley O'Shaughnessy when he starred alongside her in her latest promo.

Rihanna and ex-boxer Dudley met at a casting for the video for her new single We Found Love, where the singer hand-picked Dudley to play her lover.

Dudley wasn't daunted by the prospect of getting steamy with one of the world's biggest superstars. Instead, he says the Barbadian beauty was a joy to work alongside.

"I wasn't star-struck at all - she's just such a nice girl," he told British newspaper The Evening Standard.

"It's not like just because she's achieved so much that she thinks her sh*t don't stink. She's such a humble down-to-earth girl and that made it even better for me because I didn't feel intimidated or anything. We just got along - we were just mates. It took about three-and-a-half days to film. I loved it. I didn't want it to end. Not just because it was 'a certain person's' video but just because I love being on set."

Rihanna and Dudley have remained in contact since shooting the video and are rumoured to have hit it off romantically.

Dudley's career had stalled before landing the lead role in Rihanna's promo. He says being offered the part couldn't have come at a better time.

"I was ranked number one in the country - I was a prospect for the Olympics. I won the [Amateur Boxing Association] Championships and still got overlooked by Team GB," he explained.

"When something is your dream and you do everything you need to do to get to your dream, but then you're still not getting picked, you think 'What will I do?' I was thinking, 'I'm going to have to get a normal job now. I'll have to be a plumber or something.'" (C) Cover Media