A year ago he was the baby of the band. But after a tough journey (and a long game) an older, more thoughtful Nick Carter has emerged. And (sob!) it looks like he's found love...

OK, let's get this girlfriend thing out of the way. Are you seeing anyone?
Yes, I am. Her name is Mandy. I don't really want to talk about her. She's a personal part of my life and she's something no one else in the world needs to know about other than me. When I'm ready for the rest of the world to know about her, I'll tell everyone. I hope that doesn't offend anyone but it's how I feel.

Mel G and Victoria have had Spice babies. Is there any chance there'll be a Backstreet baby this year?
Are you kidding? No way! Not from me anyway, and I don't think the others want babies either. If the Spice Girls want babies, that's up to them. I can't see myself as a daddy just yet.

Why not?
It's not time yet. There's a time and place for everything and me being a father is waaay in the future!

What about marriage? Do you have any plans to walk down the aisle?
No, not any time soon - I promise!

We hear you've just bought your own house in Tampa, Florida. Does that mean you're all grown up and living on your own?
Yeah, kind of. I've got a real nice house and I don't have to share it with Aaron anymore, which is nice! It's a big house by a lake with four bedrooms - and I've got my own gym.

So what do you get up to there?
I just bought myself this huge powerboat and I spend hours powering up the lake on it. I love my boat. In fact, I'd love to live on it! It's great for waterskiing but I also like to just sit on it and think.

What do you think about?
My life, the band and our fans. Recently I've been thinking about the love everyone gives us. It would be real easy for the fans to give up on us but they keep coming back. That gets me out of bed every morning. I've also been thinking a lot about destiny.

What about it?
I'm a firm believer that everyone has a path they're meant to follow - mine was to be a Backstreet Boy. Everyone needs to find their own destiny. There's something out there that everyone can be good at, and you have to love it and have a natural talent for it. If you don't have that you'll never be a success. It's like bands that try to copy us, they might think anyone can be in a band, but you need so much more than good looks.

You have your own house and a girlfriend now. Do you still feel like you're not the baby of the band?
Yeah, I do, but I'm a lot more mature than I used to be. I always felt younger than everyone else, but over the last year we've all proved that we're older and wiser. I look older now as well - I like that.

The band has said you had a really hard time last year. Do you feel like you've all recovered?
Yes. But it's made me realise one thing: life is so short you have to enjoy it to the end. I think sometimes bands split up cos they're just working, working, working and they can get sick of the job. It's nearly happened to us a few times. I would rather die than let us split up over the fact we're working too hard.

Do you ever look back on songs like Backstreet's Back and think, I can't sing this again - I'm so bored of it?
Sure, it can get a little bit like that - I mean, we've been singing these songs for four years now and that's a long time. But the fans still love them and we can't forget that. I hope the fans like the new album as much.

You sing a slow song on the new album called I Need You Tonight.
It's a great song. It's been around for ages, I've just never sung it on a record before. It gives me goose bumps when I sing it - I hope the fans will feel the same way.