Eurovision winners Måneskin: ‘Cocaine? Damiano barely drinks beer!’

Already multiplatinum in their native Italy, the swaggering rock quartet now have two singles in the UK chart. They discuss their rise to success - and that drug-taking allegation

Before their momentous Eurovision victory with Zitti e Buoni, placing Italian rock back on the world stage and earning praise from Simon Le Bon and Miley Cyrus; before a baseless accusation of snorting cocaine almost veered into a full-blown diplomatic crisis; and before their post-win ping-pong tournament became a twee secondary narrative, the Italian band Maneskin had already raised eyebrows in Rotterdam, this year's host city.

After a rehearsal session ended late, says the bassist, Victoria De Angelis, they were parched - but realised there was no drinking water in their hotel rooms. We went to the hotel reception, but they said there was no water around," De Angelis says. So we made it into the kitchen and took some."