Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman fawned over the “beautiful” actress Kate del Castillo, while she confessed her “dream” of meeting him in leaked text messages filled with warm exchanges.

The chats, published by the newspaper Milenio on Wednesday, took place before and after Guzman, Del Castillo and US actor Sean Penn sat down for a now notorious meeting in the Mexican jungle in October.

In the messages intercepted by Mexican authorities, the pair discuss meeting over tequila and champagne, with Guzman promising to “take care of you more than my own eyes” while the Mexican-American actress expresses her “eagerness to see you eye-to-eye.”

Del Castillo took to Twitter on Wednesday to claim that reports of her relationship with Guzman ware false.

“Thank you for your support over the past days. Not surprisingly, many have chosen to make up items they think will make good stories and that aren't truthful,” she wrote in English.

“I look forward to sharing my story with you,” said the 43-year-old star, who became famous playing a drug lord in TV show The Queen of the South.