Taylor Swift hails Justin Timberlake as her 'hero'

Taylor Swift has hailed Justin Timberlake her “hero” as the singers shared their mutual admiration on Instagram.

Taylor is currently riding high after cleaning up at the iHeartRadio Music Awards on Sunday night (03Apr16), where she won four prizes including album of the year. Justin was on hand to pay tribute to his pal as he presented Taylor with the accolade for best tour, and the kind words continued to flow after the ceremony.

"Hero status, friend status, all time fav status. @justintimberlake thank you for absolutely everything," Taylor gushed as she posted a black and white photo of them chatting backstage at the show.

The 26-year-old Shake it Off singer was responding to Justin’s earlier Instagram dedication, which he had posted two hours before.

Justin took to his social media account to share a photograph of Taylor looking stunning in a black sequinned jumpsuit while on stage accepting an award.

"My good friend, Taylor... Congrats, dear!!! #iHeartAwards," the 35-year-old heartthrob captioned his snap.

It was Justin who kicked off the public display of admiration during the awards ceremony when he gushed about Taylor before inviting her on stage to collect a trophy for her hit tour 1989. His heartfelt tribute made it clear he has a lot of respect for the singer-songwriter.

"I am very happy to be back with all of you in this arena to help honour a great young woman who has accomplished extraordinary things in arenas and stadiums all around our world,” he said. “This extraordinary singer, songwriter and performer has been elevating the place of music in our lives, bringing all types of people together in big and powerful ways as a touring sensation. She has won over 250 awards to date. I don't know how that's mathematically possible.”

Taylor had plenty of reasons to celebrate on Sunday night – as well as taking home three prizes, her boyfriend Calvin Harris was named dance artist of the year.