But all is forgiven when we jump into his waiting car after the shoot, to have a seriously cosy chat on the back seat. Darius is as charming - and cheesy - as ever, and he's happy to spill the beans about his pulling power; his celeb crushes and, erm, those rumours that he's very well-endowed in the trouser department…

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You've just finished your first solo tour. How did it go?

I love being on tour. If I could, I'd tour 11 months of the year. I'd put together this amazing band. It felt like being in a group of travelling gypsies, with my guitar slung over my shoulder, waking up in a different city each day…

 

And one lucky lady got a serenade at each gig?

My new single, Girl In The Moon, was one of my favourite songs on tour. I got a girl up on stage every night to sing it to her. That song is a thank you to my fans. It's through public support that I managed to turn my life around. I've had people coming up to me saying, "Darius, I wasn't sure about you, but I respect the way you haven't given up" - that's girls mostly, rather than guys. We've all got a guardian angel and I've got a big bunch of them out there. That song is dedicated to them.

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What did you get up to when you weren't on stage?

We were on tour for five weeks and I've never partied so hard in my life! I didn't know that I could keep going for that long. My band nicknamed me "Tenacious D" because I went out every night. We'd be in bars and clubs 'til 3am or 4am, then we'd invite some girls back with us to the tour bus.

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To show them your instruments?

I was very naughty: I was a bad boy on tour. Being on tour is the best time in your life to be single. I enjoyed myself and enjoyed female company. A lot. Saying that, I've never had a none-night stand - I don't believe in them. All good things come to those who wait. I've never done a home run on the first night…although it can get close to it.

 

More than just a snog then?

Come on! Snogging is first base! My relationships are gentlemanly, though. I'm the kind of boyfriend, hopefully, that, even if it doesn't pan out, we'll remain friends. My dad's taught me that: to remain friends with girls.

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You were linked with Jacqui Ainsley, who was in your Colourblind video, and Wonderbra model Kate Groombridge.

Are you still friends?

I saw them both recently, but I'm dating someone else just now. I met this girl at a gig in Ireland. I pulled her up on stage. I asked her if she had a boyfriend and I was looking into her eyes and said, "Are you OK?" and we kissed. We met up after the show and she took me out in Dublin.

 

What's her name?

I can't say until we've been out again and I've checked it's OK with her.

 

How did you pick her out from the hundreds of other girls?

When you have chemistry with someone, it can transcend a room full of people. Once I bumped into a girl on the Underground - that's where the song called Sliding Doors on my album comes from. I saw her on the Tube. She got off, so I got off. I thought I'd lost her, then someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned round and it was her. That was about a year ago - we went out on a date. Sometimes you look in someone's eyes and the chemistry smacks you in the face. You can't do anything about that.

 

You took two different women - Jacqui Ainsley and Bella Malim - to the premiere of Anger Management…are you keeping your options open?

When I have a girlfriend I commit to that one person. By the time I go out with this girl I met in Ireland again, I'll have a better idea if I've got a girlfriend. Right now I don't have a girlfriend, but I'm dating.

 

Have you always been this popular with women?

No. There have been times in my life when I've been quite shy.

 

Being famous must help a little…

The attention from women is very flattering, but I've learnt quickly because of some experiences I've had. Between Popstars and Pop Idol, when I was back at university, this girl chatted me up during a lecture and asked me out for dinner. I was about to go to my next lecture and I saw her getting into a car with a guy with a long lens. She was a journalist with a paparazzo. I haven't fallen for that kind of thing since. When a girl's affections are misplaced or when a girl is dazzled by the celebrity, you can tell. I find it superficial. When a girl is interested in me for me and not what I do, I love that.

 

Who do you fancy in the public eye at the moment?

There are so many striking women out there. I took the whole of Girls Aloud out the other week and fancied all of them! They were performing in Glasgow so I sent them a bottle of champagne and invited them out for drinks afterwards. I really like their stuff. The tracks they've got are wicked and they've got an edginess to them. I took them to this bar called Sporto where I know the owner. You can play pool - it's a great place to chill out. It was just us and my band. I was mixing up my special killer cocktail - the Big D. Then my eight-year-old brother Cyrus turns up and all the attention was on him - he upstaged me! I was gutted. Anyway, the girls were really nice - as stimulating to talk to as they are to look at.

 

Would you like to have a famous girlfriend?

You can't determine who you fall for, but I'd rather take this girl out who I met on tour. I just think you've got more chance of having some semblance of a normal relationship when you're not both under the scrutiny of the camera lens.

 

We've heard a certain rumour that you're not small in the trouser department…

It said on Popbitch, the internet gossip site, that blokes might feel inadequate if they're in the gents toilet and I come in to use the urinal! I thought it was really funny.

 

So is it true?

I have received compliments, yes. But no one's ever said it was uncomfortable.

 

You seem to have an amazing amount of self-confidence…

That wasn't always the case. Popstars gave my confidence a bit of a knock, but because I was given a chance to put that behind me and people supported me and voted for me after that, I've become more confident. I think I was trying too hard to e something I wasn't before. I'm doing OK now at what I love and I'm happier than I've ever been in my life.

 

And you're writing a book about your experience of Popstars and Pop Idol?

Yes, it's out in September. It's a behind-the-scenes look at reality TV. People who were entertained by the show will be shocked. I don't want to give too much away, but the most interesting stuff happened off camera. I couldn't talk about it legally until the end of last year; but I've got to the stage now where it weill be good to have closure on that chapter in my life.

 

Do you still see the other Pop Idol finalists, Will Young and Gareth Gates?

I see them through work - out on radio shows and stuff like that.

 

What do you think of Popstars: The Rivals joint winners, One True Voice?

I feel very, very sorry for them, because I don't think they are very happy. It's awesome that they've been given the opportunity, but awful that off the back of a Saturday-night TV programme with millions of viewers, the producers can't make a success of five guys eith good voices. I think there's a lack of creative risk-taking in the music industry sometimes. Instead, they're plumping for the commercial thing, trying to shift records in a safe, boring, sanitised way.

 

What next? Do you want to do the US?

I don't have any intention of going to America. Robbie Williams is on his fifth album and he's tried very hard to break America without even denting it. I want to stay here and work on my next album. Now I'm at the stage where I'm really enjoying the fruits of the hard graft I've put in and I want to share these exciting times with my friends and family. I work seven days a week, but I don't consider it to be work because I love what I do. My granddad slaved 16 hours a day on the Glasgow docks from the age of 14, and at 22, I'm living the kind of lifestyle he would have envied.