Coldplay Couple's Kristin Cabot Not Dating CEO Andy Byron, Blames Ordeal on Alcohol

Kristin Cabot -- one half of the couple who went viral on social media this summer when they were caught getting cozy at a Coldplay concert -- has confirmed she and ex-Astronomer CEO Andy Byron are not dating ... and she blames the whole fiasco on alcohol.

The former "chief people officer" for Astronomer opened up about the life-changing ordeal in an interview with The New York Times published Thursday ... she confirmed she is not dating Byron. In fact, they barely have any contact at all. She reasoned ... "Speaking with each other was going to make it too hard for everyone to move on and heal."

Cabot told the NYT she understands she made a choice -- an alcohol-fueled one -- that has now impacted her career. She explained ... "I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss. And it’s not nothing. And I took accountability, and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay."

However, as she and her loved ones -- including her minor kids -- continue to heal from the traumatizing publicity, she is speaking out because she doesn't want her silence to become acceptance, noting ... "I want my kids to know that you can make mistakes, and you can really screw up. But you don’t have to be threatened to be killed for them."

The pair became the laughingstock of the internet after video them caught on the Jumbotron at the Boston show went viral. Cabot described the moment she saw herself with Byron's arms wrapped around her on the big screen like "someone flipped a switch." Within hours, the incident spread like wildfire.

Though she and Byron were both separated from their respective spouses, the internet did not know that -- and she was immediately labeled a homewrecker. She told the Times she was stalked by paparazzi, received 500 or 600 calls a day, and received dozens of death threats after the incident unfolded.

And even though she said Astronomer told her she could return to her role, she tells the NYT she thought it was best for her to leave her career. She has not yet returned to work, and she admits many of her professional connections have turned their backs on her.

Cabot told the NYT Byron opened up about his own separation before things heated up between them; however, he and his wife, Megan Kerrigan were spotted together in Maine -- wearing their wedding bands -- in December. Byron declined to be interviewed by the Times.