Paris Hilton has hinted at the rift that tore her friendship with Nicole Richie apart, days after vowing to keep silent about it.

Hotel heiress Hilton recently ended months of speculation by declaring she and Richie - who teamed up on reality TV show THE SIMPLE LIFE - were no longer pals, but she refused to expose the reason behind their split.

She said, “It’s no big secret that Nicole and I are no longer friends. It wouldn’t be fair to the fans if we pretended to be best pals. I will not go into details of what happened. All I will say is that Nicole knows what she did.”

However, Hilton has now backtracked on her pledge to keep their rift private - by hinting their friendship was ruined by Richie’s dishonest nature and inability to keep secrets.

She tells website PAGESIX.COM, “A good friend is someone who is honest… I’ll test them by telling them something and seeing if it will get out. If it gets out, I know that it was them.”