BORIS Johnson’s secret nickname for his Tory aide pal is “otter” — while she calls him a “bear”.

The ex-Foreign Secretary, 54, likened Carrie Symonds, 30, to the mammal — and wrote a gushing article about their aroma — after she landed a conservation role.

On the weekend news of their growing friendship broke, Carrie tweeted a pic of one, captioned: “Otters have the thickest fur of all animals.”

Meanwhile the former Tory aide calls Boris “Bozzie Bear” - after Fozzie, the big, fluffy-haired Muppet.

Last night a friend said: “Boris and Carrie are very much still in touch, and hoping to meet up once the furore around their friendship dies down.

"He calls her his little otter - hence her tweet when she knew she was going to be named in the media.

"It was their little in-joke. In return, she affectionately calls Boris ‘Bozzie the Bear’.”

Three weeks before The Sun revealed Boris’ 25-year marriage was over, he wrote an article praising the otter and their “thrilling musky fishy aroma”.

Boris, who has four grown-up kids with Marina Wheeler, is said to have grown close to the former Tory communications chief in recent months.