So that's why she was late on stage! Rihanna shares pre-show ritual in series of candid backstage snaps

PUBLISHED: 19:14, 19 March 2013 | UPDATED: 19:15, 19 March 2013

Her super sexy and exquisitely constructed shows are a familiar sight, but Rihanna - inveterate Tweeter though she is - hasn't shown us what it's like for her before she hits the stage.

Until now, that is, because he friend Melissa Forde has captured some intimate - and not so intimate - moments of the beauty psyching herself up to perform with the help of her dancers.

The 25-year-old seems to go through a ritual which is akin to footballers huddling before a game, and it could in part explain why she was late to to stage by a whopping 70 minutes in Toronto on Sunday.

Ritual: The moment before Rihanna hit the stage was captured by her photographer friend Melissa Forde

In a series of shots, you can spot the Bahan beauty holding hands with her dancers, then they put their hands into the middle of the circle before raising them to the ceiling and yelling out a rallying cry.

Rihanna's 777 promotional tour for new album Unapologetic is set to show further behind-the-scenes excitement, as its being made into a documentary for Fox.

The singer took 256 fans and journalists onto a Boeing 777 airplane and took them with her as she performed seven concerts in seven days in seven cities around the world.

I wanna hold your hand: Rihanna shared these pictures via a photographer friend

Team talk: Rihanna and her dancers huddled together like they were preparing to play a match

Strong spirit: It's clear that Rihanna and her team have got great camaraderie

The new documentary, Rihanna 777, which her Fenty Films produced, is said to go behind the scenes of the trip, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Unapologetic debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and her single hit the top of the Hot 100 chart the day after the tour finished.

The singer lived up the album name as she took to the stage 70 minutes late for her Diamonds world tour in Montreal on Sunday night.

In the zone: RiRi larked around backstage, as captured by her friend

Chilling out: The atmosphere seems fairly jolly at Rihanna's gigs... even backstage

Splendid show: Rihanna kept her fans waiting in Toronto on Sunday night but it was worth it

Luckily for her patient fans she proved worth waiting for, showing her figure in a pair of thigh high white boots.

She teamed the boots with a transparent T-shirt dress baring the legend 'sea of desire' and black underwear.

The outfit proved just one of six equally outrageous outfits.

They included a pop art inspired two-piece, in clinging red and yellow PVC, and studded black leather underwear, which she wore with another pair of over-the-knee boots.