Kristen Stewart has finally confirmed her relationship with girlfriend Alicia Cargile because she doesn't want it to seem like she's ashamed of it.

The Twilight actress has been fiercely private about her personal life and has dodged labelling her sexuality since she was spotted with rumoured girlfriend and former personal assistant Alicia last year (15).

It appeared they had split when Kristen was seen kissing French singer/actress Soko in Paris, France in March (16) but it seemed that romance was over when Alicia joined Kristen on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in May (16).

Kristen, 26, has now publicly confirmed she is dating Alicia and opened up about the relationship for the first time to Britain's Elle magazine.

“I think... right now I’m just really in love with my girlfriend,” she said. “We’ve broken up a couple of times and gotten back together, and this time I was like, ‘Finally, I can feel again.’”

The actress, who previously dated her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson, didn't like to publicly talk about her relationships in the past because she felt it trivialised her personal life, but now feels compelled to talk about her girlfriend because she doesn't want people to think she's ashamed of being with a woman.

“We were turned into these characters and placed into this ridiculous comic book, and I was like, ‘That’s mine. You’re making my relationship something that it’s not,'" she says of her relationships with men.

“I didn’t like that. But then it changed when I started dating a girl. I was like, ‘Actually, to hide this provides the implication that I’m not down with it or I’m ashamed of it’, so I had to alter how I approached being in public... It opened my life up and I’m so much happier.”

During the candid interview Kristen, who landed her first role aged nine, credits her intense work schedule with helping her overcome anxiety because it gives her sense of purpose which gives her a boost if she's having a bad day.

“I went through so much stress and periods of strife. I would have panic attacks… I literally always had a stomach ache," she explained. "I just grew out of it, but that’s not to say I don’t get worried.”