Mariah Carey: New romance is natural

Mariah Carey was too busy posing for the cameras to offer her boyfriend tips when they made their red carpet debut.

The 45-year-old singer and her billionaire beau James Packer stepped out for their first public event together in September (15) when they attended the New York premiere of The Intern, after getting together during the summer (15). Since then they've cosied up for photos several times and James has managed to hide that he was slightly overwhelmed at first.

"I don't think either one of us thought, 'Here we are, making a debut,' he's not that guy," Mariah told ET. "It was a lot for him... I just automatically pose. I can't help it! If I did that (offer him tips), I would have had to coach him instead of posing, then I'd look bad in pictures."

It seems dating someone new hasn't put a dampener on her diva behaviour. Mariah's forthright nature has made countless headlines throughout her career, such as supposedly wanting a dog chauffeur, and the star once again admitted it's just the way she is, but she means no harm by it.

"I'm still always going to be a diva in certain ways and I don't mean that in the bad sense of the word," she added.

Mariah was chatting on the set of her new Hallmark Channel movie, A Christmas Melody. She's directing and starring in the festive feature, marking her first time helming such a big project. Luckily she's picked up experience from her own material over the years.

"I've been directing so much of my own work for a really long time," she added, with her first directing credit coming in the form of her 1995 music video Fantasy. "A lot of music videos that I didn't take credit for."

Co-starring in A Christmas Melody is Mean Girls star Lacey Chabert, which was a treat for Mariah as she was obsessed with the 2004 flick.