Dancer Brian Tanaka Opens Up About His 'Love' for Mariah Carey

— -- Dancer Bryan Tanaka isn't holding back any more about his feelings for Mariah Carey.

At the recent premiere party for "Mariah's World," he gushed about the songstress.

"I've always had a thing for Mariah," the 33-year-old backup dancer told E! News. "I love her so much."

Carey, 46, recently split from her fiancé, Australian billionaire James Packer. Last month, she and Tanaka were spotted packing on the PDA during a vacation in Hawaii. And Tanaka has already made an appearance on her new docu-series.

On Sunday's premiere, he first opened up to viewers about their friendship and how it has changed over the years.

"It was about 2005–2006 is when I first met Mariah Carey. I was a young buck, I was this green rookie when I first worked with her," he recalled. "I grew up, I turned into a man, and she's gone through so much. I think it's gonna take some time for us to get back to that comfortability where we were just homies, where we could just talk."

At the premiere party, Tanaka went into more detail about the first time they met.

"The first time we met we were actually in a rehearsal setting, a huge sound stage at Sony studios back in L.A.," Tanaka told E! "And she walked in with a beautiful entourage and I was on stage already."

"Our first introduction was kind of a sweaty mess, because I was on stage sweating," he added. "She came out all looking gorgeous and everything. But it was great we said 'Hi' real quick and we got back to work."

How the pair went from working on stage to spending time off stage will be revealed throughout the course of the series.

"Just make sure you tune in to the show, and you'll see kind of how everything happens," Tanaka told E!