George Clooney's girlfriend speaks out

Former cocktail waitress Sarah Larson has finally dished the dirt on how she ended up dating one of the world's most famous and eligible bachelors -- George Clooney.

In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Larson says that despite reports the two met at the June 2007 Ocean's Thirteen premiere at the Palms Casino Resort on Las Vegas, they actually met much earlier.

"It was on his birthday three or four years ago at Whiskey at Green Valley Ranch," she said.

Clooney was with a group of friends, including Whiskey owner Rande Gerber, "and I was with some friends", Larson adds.

"We were all dancing, taking pictures, being silly," she said.

Larson, who worked as a cocktail server at Whiskey, was dating someone else at the time.

And when Clooney came to town for the "Ocean's" premiere in June, "he heard I was working at Moon," made contact at the nightclub, and "we hung out," she said. A month later, he invited her to go to Italy.

Larson, an aspiring model, recently signed with the Los Angeles-based Nous Agency, which reps Mischa Barton.

She and Clooney, 46, are heading for Italy soon, a trip that could help expand her modeling career in Europe.

"We'll be in Como, which isn't that far from Milano," she said, hinting that after appearing in a fashion show that featured Emilio Pucci's spring collection at the Four Seasons Hotel.

The 'Leatherheads' star has been supportive of her new career, she said. "Your boyfriend better be. If they aren't, you gotta kick 'em in the butt and walk away."