Food, whanau, fans - no time to be Idol

Stan Walker says family and other Maori make the toughest audience. Photo / Dean Purcell

Stan "the man" Walker said he missed Kiwi food, and then headed straight for Wendy's when he touched down in Auckland on Friday.

The Australian Idol winner, who is a Kiwi-Aussie hybrid, said: "Food over here destroys everything Australian. The food and the air and the grass."

Walker, 19, was born in Melbourne, raised in Tauranga and Hamilton and now lives in Queensland.

He was working in a menswear store before the television show catapulted him into the world he had always dreamed of.

In Auckland to promote his new album, as well as celebrate his win, Walker also performed at the Maori Sports Awards on Saturday with his older brother and mum.

He may be used to talking to media and singing in front of millions of television viewers, but Walker said he got so nervous at the sports awards that he missed a note. Family and other Maori are the toughest audience: "A lot of them in there can sing," he said.

Walker has also been catching up with the rest of his family who still live in New Zealand, and has been dodging fans in his down-time.

"The fans here are worse than in Australia," he said.

Browsing Victoria Park Market for presents to take back home to Coolangatta in the weekend, Walker found himself being swarmed by supporters.

"I couldn't do anything and I was like, I don't want to be rude but I'm on a mission."

But singing away between photo shoots, Walker said fame had not changed him: "Man I'm still the same, it's just more people know me".

He said he would love to have more time to go and visit the spots he remembers playing at as a kid the paddocks around Tauranga and the Waikato River but flies back to Australia tomorrow for more promotions.

"I want to go and check out the places but I can't really, life's changed."

But he would not change what is happening right now. "Idol's the man. This is my dream."