Nicki Minaj: 'I had to wear Versace gown on the Grammys red carpet'

Nicki Minaj ditched a plan to avoid the red carpet at the Grammy Awards on Sunday (12Feb12) because she couldn't bear the idea of not showing off the one-of-a-kind hooded Versace gown designers had created for her.

The Super Bass hitmaker was hoping to avoid the flashbulbs outside Los Angeles' Staples Center and make a big entrance on stage dressed in the stunning red outfit - but when it arrived from Italy she realised it was too heavy to wear for a performance.

So, instead, she chose to show it off on the red carpet and she arrived at the ceremony accompanied by a man dressed as the Pope.

She explains, "I wasn't gonna do the red carpet... but I had this amazing robe made for me by Versace, sent from Milan and I said, 'Oh my god, I have to wear this.' They were so generous.

"I was gonna originally wear it in the performance but when I got it it was a bit heavy... so I said, 'Hey, there's only one way to do this.'"

Minaj went on to shock Grammy guests and TV viewers around the world by staging a performance art set at the Grammys, during which she debuted the track Roman Holiday, danced with monks and a priest performing an exorcism and appeared to levitate high above the Staples Center stage.