Ever wondered what it's really like in the red carpet? We sent Rosie to find out.

Not sure if you read my post from last week, but a couple of weeks ago Qantas flew me over to LA on a very fancy plane so I could stay in a very fancy hotel and go to some very fancy celebrity parties. You know, cos I’m a total big shot.

My first red carpet experience was at the Qantas Spirit of Australia Party, which you can catch up on here.

The next party I had to go to? The GDay USA celebrity-filled Black Tie Gala. You know – NO BIGGIE.

Normally I would be intimidated, but after the first red carpet soirée, I totally felt like an old pro at this ‘fancy celebrity party’ thing. Oh, John Travolta’s going to be there? Met him already. Tina Arena’s performing? Took a photo with her the other night.

After my epic red carpet success at the first party, I was pretty confident this one was also going to breeze.

And it… Well, it was terrifying.

This Gala was a big deal. For starters, everything was bigger. Bigger venue, more people, longer red carpet. It was legit.

The press (that’s me), had to check in at security and get our ‘credentials’ before being escorted to the red carpet – which was EPIC. Pretty much every major Australian and international press group was represented there. And we each had about 20cms on which to stand. (Basically the amount of room that the sheet of paper with your name on it took up on the floor. So yeah, we were packed in.)

The television people took up the first 3/4 of the carpet. Websites and publications were down the other end. There was a lot of drama because the carpet didn’t actually stretch as long as the press line, so journalists down my end were panicked that stars weren’t going to stop and talk to us.

I knew pretty much straight away that selfies weren’t going to cut it here. Unlike the fun, relaxed vibe at the Qantas party, this red carpet was pretty hard core. I could already feel the competitive energy in the air. When it came to the press, it was every man for himself.

I didn’t really have a plan. I was live-instagramming and tweeting the whole night for Mamamia, so all I really wanted was photos. They didn’t even have to be selfies – any photos would do.

The first arrivals began trickling in (okay – so I asked Kim Beazley for a selfie – things were still pretty quiet then though). There was lots of yelling and hustling for interviews, but mostly is was ok. “Alright,” I thought. “I’ve got this.”

But as more and more celebs began arriving, things took a turn. The journalists around me actually went crazy. It was like the press were a pack of zombies, the stars on the red carpet were brains and the only thing keeping the two apart was a flimsy red rope. There was so much yelling, surging, pushing. To be honest, it was kind of more interesting to watch the press side of the red carpet than the red carpet side of the red carpet.

Observe me in this video, slightly terrified:

When Cate Blanchett arrived with her son – oh my gosh. Everybody lost their shit trying to get a good photo. The barricade actually tipped over as everyone surged forward. Geoffrey Rush, my old friend John Travolta and my new BFF for life Jackie Weaver all had the same effect. And when Mel Gibson showed up? People went cray. I felt like I was in a movie scene of what it’s like to be on a red carpet – that’s how cliche it was. People yelling, hundreds of flashes, the overzealous British tabloid journo, the stars posing and laughing together. It was all there.

I took what photos I could. Not many celebs stopped down my end so most of my pics are just of people walking past me. I tried. I got into the spirit of it – I yelled out celebs’ names and hustled forward with everyone else. But I have to say, after an hour of red carpet madness, I was glad to finally go inside the gala and sit down.

And it was fabulous. I was at a fancy table with some other journalists and some people from Qantas. Richard Wilkins and Paulie Perrette hosted the festivities (she’s from NCIS – I think having a US star was meant to keep the Americans interested), while everybody ate an incredible menu by Curtis Stone. Seriously, it was probably the best I have ever eaten, and ever will eat again.

As the GDay USA gala is designed to celebrate Aussies doing well in the US, there are honourees each year. This year, Cate Blanchett presented Geoffrey Rush with an award, Mel Gibson presented Jackie Weaver with an award and Sharon Osbourne presented Curtis Stone with an award.

Jackie Weaver’s speech would have to be the highlight. She opened by thanking ‘every husband that I’ve ever had’ and kept everyone in stitches from that point on. She even admitted that she barely knew Mel Gibson, but she did read opposite him once in an audition that he didn’t end up getting. So she apologised for that. It was classic.

It wasn’t just awards on the night though. The Qantas choir sang, as did Timomatic. William Barton performed and Tina Arena ROCKED THE HOUSE. Seriously, I’ve never seen her sing live before – she is incredible.

After gala, there was an epic after-party downstairs. That was were all the real fun was had. It’s weird to be in a room with All The Beautiful People. To just walk up to the bar and see Geoffrey Rush having a laugh with friends. To walk over to the dancefloor and see Jackie Weaver having a drink with her husband. It was really bizarre.

I’m not much of a party person naturally, but I downed a couple of drinks for bravery and just tried to take it all in. It’s a weird feeling, being at the party you usually only see in magazines. It’s a crazy amount of fun, but strange.

At one point, I got so overwhelmed by famous people that I actually needed some air. I went for a walk and found a genuine LA food truck about a block away. It was just the dose of reality I needed to get me through the rest of the night. Because, and I fully understand the wankiness of what I’m about to say, being One Of The Beautiful People, even temporarily, is exhausting.

I sat there on the street for ten minutes and ate a taco in my ball gown. Then I snuck back into the party, and nobody was the wiser.

And that’s how you do a fancy LA gala – Rosie style.

Check out the rest of these pics from the night: