NEWSWEEK: You sound like you’re outside. Kellie Pickler: I’m doing a show in Wisconsin, opening up for Reba [McEntire], so, yay! I’m lying on the bunk of my tour bus right now.

Do you ever drive the bus? They won’t let me for some reason. I don’t know why.

Well, do you have a license? Yeah! I’m a good driver. I wanted to be a NASCAR driver. I love driving fast.

What’s the fastest you’ve ever driven? I once got pulled over going 95 in a 35. Let me tell you, I cried my way out of that ticket. But it was real dangerous, I shouldn’t have done that. It was early in the morning and I was driving to school. We had this weird tardy thing. If you’re tardy three days to class, you’d get suspension.

You were great as a guest host on “The View.” I think they should offer you one of the open seats. Omigod. I’d so do it. I’ve got an opinion about everything. They film two shows in the same day. So I’d tour during the weekends.

Maybe Barbara Walters will be reading this. I know! I’ve been waiting for them to call. Every time I’ve done the show, everyone tries to create all this animosity, and there’s really none. They’ve all been really nice to me.

Except for Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Actually, she’s the nicest. Some people tend to forget it’s called “The View,” so everyone’s got to have their own point of view. It’s not called “The Facts.”

Are you and Carrie Underwood friends? We went to the “Idol” concert together. It was nice to have a girls’ night out.

How was Sanjaya? It was kind of weird. The music, the mix, was so loud I could hardly understand what anybody was singing. I think they were having some technical problems. Everybody sounded great, but Carrie and I both had a hard time listening.

Have you seen “Hey, Paula?” What’s that?

Paula Abdul’s reality show. She has a reality show?! I don’t watch TV ever. If I do watch TV, it’s either Animal Planet or the Discovery Channel. Have you seen “Planet Earth”? It’s amazing. It’s up close and personal with different things on the earth, like animals, plants and trees. Stuff we don’t know that’s out there.

Sounds like school. It does. But it’s not.

Do you know Kelly Clarkson? No. I haven’t met her. She was at CMA’s because she sang a duet with Reba, but I didn’t get to meet her there. Everybody was rushing all over the place. I hope to meet her soon. Every time we’re at the same place, it’s like we’re dodging each other. I was at the NASCAR race a few months ago, and she was performing the day after. Each time, we’re in the same area but we never meet.

Have you heard the new album? I haven’t heard it, no.

You should get it. Yeah. I will if I ever get to the store. I live on the bus.

Don’t you have iTunes? Yeah, but I’m so stupid I don’t know how to do it. I’m an electronic illiterate.

So you don’t have an iPod? I do. But there are no songs on it anymore. My friend downloaded one of my CDs, “Dolly Parton’s Greatest Hits,” but I accidentally deleted them all. I bought one of those new iPhones, but I don’t know how to work it.

How did you meet your boyfriend? Jordin? I’m, like, which one?

Ooh. You have more than one? Jordin [Tootoo, a NHL player for the Nashville Predators] and I are actually neighbors. It’s really funny. I didn’t know anything about hockey. He’s never even heard of “American Idol.” This lady that works at the complex I live in says there’s a guy named Jordin who wants to meet you. I’m like, “Ok, I guess.” He leaves her two tickets for a game to give me. I’m like, “Lisa, you’re going with me.” I don’t know what the guy looks like. I’ve never been to a hockey game. All I know is that his name is Jordin Tootoo. So I go to the game, every time a new player comes on ice, I’m looking for player 22. All of a sudden, this guy comes out on the ice, rips his clothes off, throws the guy on the ice, punches the crap out of the guy. I’m like, this hockey game is turning into a boxing match! Lisa is like, “That’s Jordin.” I’m like, I have to go out with this monster? Afterward, we went to dinner. There were knots on his forehead, his knuckles were all bloody. Great first impression. But he kicked the dude’s butt. So at least I feel protected. One thing led to another and now we’re a little item, I guess you could say.

How long have you been dating? Since January. But we’ve never had an official boyfriend-girlfriend day. It just kind of blossomed. I don’t know what day we committed to each other.