KEY POINTS:
Less than 20 minutes after we're introduced, Lukas Rossi is showing me his underwear. They were a gift from chat show host Ellen DeGeneres and have her name printed repeatedly across the waistband. The words "I'm with the band" are emblazoned in bold white lettering across the bum, but I don't get to see that.
For a man who wears silver glitter lip gloss and shows foreign journalists his underwear, Rossi is surprisingly reserved. He speaks softly and cautiously, making conversation a struggle. To be fair, the guy is probably a little overwhelmed.
Six months ago Rossi was living in Toronto, Canada, singing with his band Rise Electric and playing small local gigs. Now he's the frontman of Rockstar Supernova, travelling the world on a publicity tour and being grilled repeatedly. Until now, the furthest afield Rossi had travelled was Florida.
"I'm just this little punk from Toronto and I just realised yesterday, I'm in New Zealand, dude. It's crazy," he grins.
Rossi may be surprised he's here, but the 29-year-old wasn't surprised he won the Rockstar Supernova competition. "I think everyone should have expected to win, or else they shouldn't have been at the audition. I was always confident."
So confident, Rossi disbanded Rise Electric during the initial Rockstar auditions. "I don't believe in plan B. If you have plan B, it means you're not too enthused by plan A, or you have doubts about it."
Fortunately for Rossi, things worked out and he's now living his dream alongside renowned rockers Tommy Lee, Gilby Clarke and Jason Newsted.
"They welcomed me like a brother, it was cool. Ever since they said, 'You're our boy,' and we played that first song, it felt like we'd been together for years. It's rad because I've played in other bands and there's never been that dynamic. This is just a dream come true."
After winning the competition Rossi went straight to work, writing lyrics and melodies for the band's self-titled debut album, which had already been partially written by the other members.
Within two weeks, he had written and recorded the rest of the album, in time for its November 20 release date.
Although Rossi admits the television show affected how the album was made, he's quick to point out the group is no one-hit wonder.
"I don't want people to be confused. The television show was a great vessel to showcase my talent and the band but that's over now. The TV's turned off and it's a real band. There's going to be this record, which I'm really excited about, and there's many records to come."
The TV may be off, but Rossi clearly hasn't forgotten his time as a reality television star.
"It was tedious. You get thrown into a house with a bunch of strangers and forced to live together. You can't leave. There are no cellphones, no reading material. You feel like a basket case after a while."
And as for all those craftily edited fights between housemates ...
"There wasn't much editing from what I saw. That was all [expletive] real," he says with a smirk.
But Rossi maintains he and his former competitors are still friends. He went to one of Storm's shows a while ago and hung out with Toby and his parents in Melbourne the other day. He remains ominously quiet about Dilana, however, who infamously slated Rossi on the show, telling a reporter she'd like to strangle him.
He does, however, say the band probably watched the behind-the-scenes footage before choosing their lead singer. "You have to tour with this person and you don't want to have some nutcase. That's the last thing you want."
The tour kicks off in Vegas on New Year's Eve before making its way Downunder next March.
Rossi remains tight-lipped on what fans can expect from the show but admits there's sure to be some rock'n'roll antics along the way.
"It's going to be off the wall," he says with a mischievous glint in his eye."I just want to throw a midget."
Rockstar Supernova play Vector Arena, Auckland, on March 24.
