Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload, the podcast last week that life. Hey guys,
Speaker 1: welcome back to TV Reload. I want to thank you
Speaker 1: for clicking and downloading on today's episode with Ricky Lee Coolter,
Speaker 1: one of the most successful alumnis from Australian Idol and
Speaker 1: she is back this year hosting the reboot on Channel seven.
Speaker 1: I have spent so much time with Ricky Lee over
Speaker 1: the years. I don't even think she remembers how many
Speaker 1: times I've been in the room with her. I couldn't
Speaker 1: say that we are close friends, but I could say
Speaker 1: that in fact, I'm a part of the fandom of
Speaker 1: the Ricky Lee Coulter fan club because I think she
Speaker 1: is talented, I think she's determined, and I am so
Speaker 1: impressed with how she has been able to shape her career.
Speaker 1: Australian Idol is back this week and the voices I'm
Speaker 1: going to tell you from previewing a couple of episodes
Speaker 1: are bigger and better than ever. The age restrictions have
Speaker 1: changed and that's actually really exciting to see how the
Speaker 1: show has evolved over time. Ricky Lee will unpack that
Speaker 1: song from Sex and the City that put her on
Speaker 1: the map international. We will chat about her relationship with
Speaker 1: the judges and why Kyle Sandalans and former judge Ian
Speaker 1: Dixon have her respect. I find out about her thoughts
Speaker 1: on some of the artists this year and why she
Speaker 1: relates to the pressure that they are under. You will
Speaker 1: get everything from some amazing insights into how her career
Speaker 1: has had some tough choices, what it takes to be
Speaker 1: a TV presenter, and how over two decades she has
Speaker 1: stayed grounded. There is so much to talk about, with
Speaker 1: so many inside revelations, So guys sit back and relax
Speaker 1: as we unpack the wonderful world of Australian Idol, which
Speaker 1: launches this week on Channel seven and seven plus.
Speaker 2: Hello, Hi, how are you?
Speaker 1: I'm very excited? Do you know what I just did?
Speaker 1: I just while I was waiting watched at one of
Speaker 1: your concerts. I was in the front row and you
Speaker 1: came down, grabbed gave me the microphone and I sung
Speaker 1: a line of Michael Jackson and I've got it on video.
Speaker 1: So I just rewatched it. I love it.
Speaker 3: Where was that?
Speaker 1: Oh? It's a Crown casino. Years ago for one of
Speaker 1: the might have been like the Royal Children's Hospital. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure it was a charity. Yeah, but you know,
Speaker 1: my partner was like, you're always staring at the singer
Speaker 1: like you want to do it, and he goes, I
Speaker 1: reckon that recently just saw you and was like, that
Speaker 1: guy's desperate. I'm gonna have to give him the microphone.
Speaker 4: Oh. I mean, I love handing the microphone out and
Speaker 4: getting people to sing. It's one of my favorite things
Speaker 4: to do.
Speaker 1: Well, this is super exciting to chat with you today.
Speaker 1: And when I was writing out what I was going
Speaker 1: to ask you, I wrote a book so if you
Speaker 1: ever need something to help you with an unauthorized biography.
Speaker 3: I was doing.
Speaker 4: I was doing like like sometimes people will like email
Speaker 4: question like you know Q and A.
Speaker 3: And I have to restrain.
Speaker 4: Myself because I start it's like I'm telling my last
Speaker 4: story and it's like I'm writing a book when I
Speaker 4: do these things, and I'm.
Speaker 3: Like, Ricky, I have to tell myself, no one.
Speaker 4: Cares they do about like your deep the darkest like
Speaker 4: feelings and thoughts and emotions, just like give a funny
Speaker 4: little quick answer and get the hell out of it.
Speaker 1: I'm not weirder because I I think of questions that
Speaker 1: I would ask you all the time, and when I
Speaker 1: thought about it, I've put this question right in at
Speaker 1: the start because I've always wanted to talk to you
Speaker 1: about it. But one of my favorite songs is you
Speaker 1: Can't Touch It, and I wanted to know forever how
Speaker 1: the hell did that end up on the Sex and
Speaker 1: the City trailer and soundtrack. That must have been such
Speaker 1: an unusual thing to have happened. You must have been elated.
Speaker 4: I mean I was dying when I the way that
Speaker 4: it all happened because I wrote the song.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we wrote the song in two thousand and seven.
Speaker 4: So when you're a songwriter, if somebody wants to use
Speaker 4: your song in a movie or in a TV commercial
Speaker 4: or something like that, they have to seek permission.
Speaker 2: From the songwriter. Yeah, so we got a request through.
Speaker 4: And this is like, you know, three or four years
Speaker 4: after the song came out, we got a request through
Speaker 4: from from Warner Brothers, asking can we think this song
Speaker 4: in a movie? They didn't say what the movie was,
Speaker 4: and then they specify all of the different usages.
Speaker 3: That it'll be to be like in.
Speaker 4: The film in the trailer, on the set track, and
Speaker 4: they tell you the parts of the song, the duration
Speaker 4: of the song that will be used, and blah blah blah,
Speaker 4: and then they give you to see and you basically
Speaker 4: just have to.
Speaker 3: Agree or not agree to it.
Speaker 4: And I honestly feel like, because things like this happened,
Speaker 4: there's another thing that happened and it's kind of similar.
Speaker 4: I feel like it was like an Australian gay that
Speaker 4: that were with working at Warner Brothers US or something,
Speaker 4: and I was like, I can love this song, and
Speaker 4: they put forward my song somehow. I just can't imagine
Speaker 4: how my song came across the desk of someone one
Speaker 4: of the big wigs at Warner Brothers in the US, Like,
Speaker 4: I just don't other than it being an Australian gay
Speaker 4: that's like, hey, babe, do you want to hear this
Speaker 4: amazing song I heard? And I truly think that that's
Speaker 4: how it happened. So shit, So then I so I
Speaker 4: approved the I approved the sink and literally it was
Speaker 4: days I think it was like three or four days later.
Speaker 3: I came home in the afternoon.
Speaker 4: Remember what did you ever watch a news is like
Speaker 4: Juliana around sick and Ryan Secret of course, so I
Speaker 4: sit on accounts and I've popped on the E News
Speaker 4: and I'm watching Juliana and Ryan and they throw to this,
Speaker 4: like this big thing we've got the new the brand
Speaker 4: new trailer, the first look at the new Sex and
Speaker 4: the City movie, and they throw to it and it
Speaker 4: starts out with like empire state of mind, New York
Speaker 4: concrete jungle where dreams are made of and you're seeing
Speaker 4: all of the girls and you're seeing that they're here,
Speaker 4: there and everywhere, and then all of a sudden, it
Speaker 4: just go it drops, and it goes dud dude, dude,
Speaker 4: and the drums for Can't Touch It start. I almost
Speaker 4: ship myself. I jumped up, I was screaming, I was
Speaker 4: running around the house. It was just the most I
Speaker 4: wrote that song. I wrote Can't Touch It in New
Speaker 4: York the first time I ever went there, about going
Speaker 4: out with my girlfriend who was with me, and like
Speaker 4: guys trying to hit on us, and then it ends
Speaker 4: up in the movie that is the quintessential show about
Speaker 4: New York and the girls and.
Speaker 2: Going out and finding love.
Speaker 3: It was just meant it couldn't be more perfect.
Speaker 1: I remember dancing to it in like a gay nightclub
Speaker 1: and it was like wild, like everyone was dancing to it,
Speaker 1: and I remember feeling so proud of you. I had
Speaker 1: the goosies then and I've got the goosies now just
Speaker 1: even talking to you about that story.
Speaker 4: Oh, it's such a crazy it's such a crazy story.
Speaker 4: And I still can't believe that it happened. And it's
Speaker 4: like like the song because I we'd released it in
Speaker 4: Australia and it was it got to like number two
Speaker 4: on the charts. It was this huge song here in Australia,
Speaker 4: and it also got released in the UK and was
Speaker 4: like number two on the charts over there as well.
Speaker 2: We were number one on the dance chart.
Speaker 4: And it was just like, so it had had its life,
Speaker 4: I thought, and I thought, you know, that was that
Speaker 4: was it. But then it got released internationally, you know,
Speaker 4: by a Sex in the City.
Speaker 3: Basically it was.
Speaker 4: It was in the trailer shown all around the world.
Speaker 3: It was released worldwide.
Speaker 4: It was just like and now like I'll be in
Speaker 4: I'll be in another country and it will come on
Speaker 4: and it just guilty this day for me out because
Speaker 4: you know, as an Australian artist, you're like you like
Speaker 4: you're kind of combined to Australia and it's different to
Speaker 4: being in the UK because I know the song got
Speaker 4: released there, but like, I don't know, it's really surreal
Speaker 4: and it's just it's really cool and that song has
Speaker 4: had such an incredible life and I'm you know, I'm
Speaker 4: just I'm.
Speaker 3: Really proud of it too.
Speaker 4: Like it's like I've got a little, yeah, a little
Speaker 4: kid out there that's kicking goals and achieving things and
Speaker 4: he's like the captain the Fall Team.
Speaker 2: Kind of thing.
Speaker 3: Like it's really it's really cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, we're here to talk about Idle. And
Speaker 1: the weirdest thing about all of this is that you
Speaker 1: have turned out to be one of the most successful
Speaker 1: alumnis from this program and you have one of the
Speaker 1: most iconic Australian TV moments when you were eliminated I
Speaker 1: think you were it was like eighth or something in
Speaker 1: that competition when you should have won. I wanted to
Speaker 1: know from you personally, do you reckon that if you'd
Speaker 1: made it all the way and won that series, you'd
Speaker 1: be where you are today. I would say, from an
Speaker 1: outsider's point of view looking in, I think you've worked
Speaker 1: harder and that moment made you in a way.
Speaker 3: I absolutely agree.
Speaker 4: I don't think if I had one, like, I think
Speaker 4: it could have gone two ways. Sure, if I won
Speaker 4: and you know, got signed to the record label that
Speaker 4: you get signed to and had the you know, kind
Speaker 4: of a path lay it out for you, maybe maybe
Speaker 4: I would have. Maybe things would have been bigger and
Speaker 4: better and more successful.
Speaker 3: Maybe I would have had.
Speaker 2: More hit songs.
Speaker 4: Maybe things would have been different, but they also maybe
Speaker 4: maybe they wouldn't have. And I feel like my success
Speaker 4: I feel like I can really own because I signed
Speaker 4: to an independent label. Like I said no to the
Speaker 4: big Sony record deal when I first came off the
Speaker 4: show because they offered me a single.
Speaker 2: Deal rather than an album, and I.
Speaker 4: Didn't feel like that was committing I just thought, oh,
Speaker 4: do you really Is this just that I'm just going
Speaker 4: to throw this at the wall and see if it sticks,
Speaker 4: and if it does, will then sign you. But that
Speaker 4: to me doesn't feel like you truly believe in me.
Speaker 4: I also was kind of got the sense that the
Speaker 4: other record labels that I was talking to that were
Speaker 4: majors kind of wanted to put me in a box
Speaker 4: and tell me who I was going to.
Speaker 3: Be whereas I was. And I'm proud that as an
Speaker 3: eighteen year old.
Speaker 4: I made the decision and said no to that because
Speaker 4: I think the most important decision of my entire career,
Speaker 4: and that was something that I had to you know,
Speaker 4: I had to make that choice at eighteen or nineteen,
Speaker 4: and I think it's incredibly intuitive that I knew that
Speaker 4: I need to carve out my own path, and so
Speaker 4: I ended up signing with an independent record label, which
Speaker 4: to start with, makes everything harder because they don't have,
Speaker 4: you know, the million dollar budgets that every other, you know,
Speaker 4: major record label has. But it just means you have
Speaker 4: to be more resourceful, and you have to be more clever,
Speaker 4: and you have to work smarter, and you have to
Speaker 4: work harder. It's why I feel like I can really
Speaker 4: own my successes because I had to work really hard
Speaker 4: for all of those and they weren't served to me
Speaker 4: on a silver plutter. We had to work for every
Speaker 4: chart position that we got, every radio play. I think
Speaker 4: there was a lot of goodwill out there for me
Speaker 4: after I was eliminated from the show. People just wanted
Speaker 4: to back me, and you know, I feel like people
Speaker 4: feeling guilty that I got voted out definitely worked in
Speaker 4: my favor for a.
Speaker 1: While I heard producers refer to that when a person
Speaker 1: gets eliminated from reality show. I've been on the set
Speaker 1: of some of these shows when it's happened, and I'll
Speaker 1: be like, oh my god, I can't believe that person
Speaker 1: went home, and they're like, don't worry about it. It's
Speaker 1: the rickyarly cool to a moment of the season, like
Speaker 1: and you know, like to be known as a phrase
Speaker 1: like that is also kind of cool, do you know
Speaker 1: what I mean? Like, I think, yeah, that's a most
Speaker 1: everyone can refer to and immediately know what you're talking about.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's pretty wild, it really is.
Speaker 1: I love that things don't happen in a straight line,
Speaker 1: and I love looking back at the stuff when I
Speaker 1: was probably not where I thought I would be. And
Speaker 1: I remember I went to the opening of The Lion
Speaker 1: King and you sat next to me with some guy
Speaker 1: from Neighbors at the time. I know you were very
Speaker 1: good friends with him. Oh my god, dad, yes, escapes me.
Speaker 1: Two of you brought with you some either it was
Speaker 1: tiny teddies or shapes that you brought along to eat
Speaker 1: while you watched the line there bringing the line inking,
Speaker 1: and I remember thinking, HOLLI fuck I'm sitting next to Ricula,
Speaker 1: called her, I'm obsessed with her. And then when I
Speaker 1: watched you eat those packet of chips, I was like,
Speaker 1: these are the moments that I just think, you know,
Speaker 1: look where you have come and you kind of never forget.
Speaker 1: I think for you, you've never really forgotten who you are.
Speaker 1: So go ricularly cool to and eat your tiny teddies
Speaker 1: or your shapes or whatever they wear at the Lion King.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, I still put I still put, like,
Speaker 4: you know, champagne in my drink bottle. And then when
Speaker 4: I'm going somewhere on it on a long triper, I
Speaker 4: put like snacks in my bag, like those things.
Speaker 3: I feel like I just I.
Speaker 4: Saw people that I knew well, and I saw so
Speaker 4: many people in the industry changed when they quote unquote.
Speaker 3: Made it, and I just thought it was so such an.
Speaker 4: Ugly trait, like you are who you are. There's nowhere
Speaker 4: that says that when you become successful you need to
Speaker 4: be a dick to everyone.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like I just.
Speaker 4: Think it that they do, and people do forget where
Speaker 4: they come from, and they think that their God's gift
Speaker 4: to music, it's entertainment and they're the greatest thing that
Speaker 4: ever happened, and I just think that kind of self important.
Speaker 4: I don't know, maybe just the way that I grew
Speaker 4: up just doesn't allow for that.
Speaker 2: You know, I.
Speaker 4: Watched my parents, you know, we had nothing when I
Speaker 4: was growing up, Like I was scrounging around and putting
Speaker 4: five different pieces together so I could buy hopefully a
Speaker 4: pie at school when I got there, or like it
Speaker 4: just to I watched my parents work their asses off
Speaker 4: and try things and create a business and make something
Speaker 4: that was successful. And that kind of work ethic has
Speaker 4: always stuck with me. Like I'm driven and ambitious and
Speaker 4: hard working. I always want to be the hardest working
Speaker 4: person in the room. And I just don't think that
Speaker 4: kind of a work ethic and drive allows you to
Speaker 4: become a douchebag, because you can always be better, you
Speaker 4: can always have done better, you can always work harder,
Speaker 4: There's always.
Speaker 2: More to do.
Speaker 4: And I think when people feel like they've kind of
Speaker 4: reached the peak, it just doesn't sit well with me,
Speaker 4: and it's just never been Maybe it's just yeah, I
Speaker 4: wasn't raised that way.
Speaker 1: Congratulations though, on the success of the Riculae. Tim and
Speaker 1: Joel show what a joy to partner that up though
Speaker 1: with Australian Idol, and I think that keeps you busy
Speaker 1: enough to avoid all of those celebrity daggy reality shows
Speaker 1: that you'd be asked to do every year, because you're like, no, mate,
Speaker 1: I'm busy. I'm a recording artist, to have a number
Speaker 1: one radio show, and I'm also on one of the
Speaker 1: most iconic Australian TV shows of all time.
Speaker 4: I certainly have had, you know, all the all of
Speaker 4: them approach, and there's too many other things happening and
Speaker 4: it's just not really, it's not really my jam. I
Speaker 4: like sitting at home in my track is watching those shows.
Speaker 4: I don't want to be on one of them, you
Speaker 4: know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Though, You'll be so busy till you're like fifty and
Speaker 1: you'll be like one of those you know where there's
Speaker 1: Nicky Buckley, she's on I'm a celebrity at the moment,
Speaker 1: but she's like, that's when you'll be on.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, she's amazing.
Speaker 3: Think she's so beautiful.
Speaker 4: No, I'm going to be like retired and living in
Speaker 4: like Homa or something like I'm working really hard, Like
Speaker 4: I will just disappear off the face of the earth
Speaker 4: and people will.
Speaker 3: Be like, what happened to that girl? That was like
Speaker 3: always in our face?
Speaker 4: I will be gone and you'll never hear from ging
Speaker 4: ever again.
Speaker 1: This is your third season though of hosting the show,
Speaker 1: And do you know what I've been to watch you
Speaker 1: live recording the live episodes.
Speaker 4: For oh really?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, I've been there and watched you and Scott
Speaker 1: Tweety in full action. What I find amazing about you
Speaker 1: is how you've brought so much of who you are
Speaker 1: as a personality to your presenting. Because I was thinking
Speaker 1: you could almost impersonate Osha or James and or you
Speaker 1: could almost watch other presenters and steal things from them.
Speaker 1: But I always see you in your teleprompting, in your
Speaker 1: live moments, which are very stressful. I've done those before.
Speaker 1: You still are yourself. I don't know how do you
Speaker 1: do you meditate backstage to do that? Like, how do
Speaker 1: you consciously still try and be yourself without sort of
Speaker 1: impersonating being a presenter.
Speaker 4: I don't think I can't pretend I'm really like, I
Speaker 4: feel like I just always am authentic and genuine and
Speaker 4: what I'm thinking feeling you can I like, if I
Speaker 4: if I think something you can see it on my face.
Speaker 4: There's not like I can't hide it. I'm not an actress.
Speaker 4: I cannot hide it. I can't pretend.
Speaker 2: So I'm kind of.
Speaker 1: One of those. With your radio show as well, I
Speaker 1: can I can see what you're thinking audibly. That's so random.
Speaker 1: I've heard Joel and talk to you on that show
Speaker 1: and ask you a question, and your pauses and your
Speaker 1: delivery always allows the audience to know what the clogs
Speaker 1: are doing inside kul.
Speaker 4: But like, that's that's who I am, right, And I
Speaker 4: think anything I do, I always bring that to who
Speaker 4: I am, to bring that to what I'm doing. And
Speaker 4: like when I was asked to host the Third Thing,
Speaker 4: I was asked to host AGT. Yeah, and my host,
Speaker 4: I mean, I've.
Speaker 3: Never I can't. I'm not a host. I don't know
Speaker 3: how to I can't host. I can judge.
Speaker 4: I've got opinions, so I could be a judge. And
Speaker 4: they were like no, the people that asked me to
Speaker 4: host AGT were people that worked on Australian Idol back
Speaker 4: when I was on it. So the executive producers of
Speaker 4: AGT worked on Australian Idol back when I was on it,
Speaker 4: and they said, we know you, We know you so well,
Speaker 4: and we know you more than an Australia and people
Speaker 4: know you, and there is you are the only person
Speaker 4: that can do this role because you're silly, you're daggy.
Speaker 4: You know, your sense of humor is perfect for this.
Speaker 4: You can be glamorous, you can put on the dresses,
Speaker 4: but you're also a bit of a dag you can
Speaker 4: have a laugh, you don't take yourself too seriously.
Speaker 3: This is the perfect role. You have to do this.
Speaker 4: We're not taking over an answer, And I was like, well,
Speaker 4: how big the check night for Skinny No No, And
Speaker 4: I just I just never thought that I would be
Speaker 4: able to do it because I don't know how to
Speaker 4: host the TV show. I don't know how to read
Speaker 4: a Telly prompt. I can read, but I don't know
Speaker 4: how to host. I don't know how to listen in
Speaker 4: my ears to the director and take ques and do
Speaker 4: all of this was like my training ground basically, but
Speaker 4: I went head first into hoping one of the biggest
Speaker 4: TV shows on Australian TV. It was so stressful and
Speaker 4: the only thing that I could do that was company
Speaker 4: was just be myself. And the whole way they just said,
Speaker 4: just be yourself.
Speaker 2: That's enough.
Speaker 4: Don't try and be something else, just be yourself. And
Speaker 4: then from that then Australian Idol came back around and
Speaker 4: they said, Ricky, you have to host this and I
Speaker 4: can't follow Osher and James like they're the greatest.
Speaker 2: They are, They're the.
Speaker 3: Best in the business. Osha is incredible and I don't
Speaker 3: think I'll.
Speaker 2: Ever be able to do that.
Speaker 1: That's what I think is incredible, because I mean just
Speaker 1: I got asked to host Australia's Got Talent the year
Speaker 1: that Channel nine did it, and I went in and
Speaker 1: did a screen test for it. Julia Morris ended up
Speaker 1: getting that series. But I know how hard it is
Speaker 1: to be in that role, and I think I lost
Speaker 1: it because of going home and watching other presenters instead
Speaker 1: of deep, digging deep and doing the work bringing who
Speaker 1: I am out of into the role. Do you know
Speaker 1: what I mean?
Speaker 4: You just have to be genuine. I think that's the thing.
Speaker 4: You have to be curious. Questions that you want to ask,
Speaker 4: they're the questions that you should be asking.
Speaker 3: That's just what I've learned.
Speaker 4: And in all of those moments when we're live and
Speaker 4: it's stressful and something's going on, I just go back
Speaker 4: do You just have to follow your own instincts. And
Speaker 4: like even when with the with the script, like we
Speaker 4: have meetings with our writers and we make sure that
Speaker 4: the wording isn't just what.
Speaker 3: The writer has written for me.
Speaker 4: It has to have my language and the way that
Speaker 4: I would say things. And we change things and we
Speaker 4: cross things out and we rewrite things, and then it
Speaker 4: goes in the prompter and it's written even in the
Speaker 4: prompter the.
Speaker 3: Way that I would speak.
Speaker 4: So it's just that's really the that's all I've done,
Speaker 4: and I still feel like I don't know how to
Speaker 4: do it.
Speaker 3: I still feel like a fraud. I feel like an
Speaker 3: impost in a dress with.
Speaker 4: All the weave clipped in and the eyelasses.
Speaker 3: But it's really fun. It's great to.
Speaker 4: Be part of the show, and you know, the show
Speaker 4: that changed my life. It's amazing to be a part
Speaker 4: of it and to be on the stage and kind
Speaker 4: of running the ship, running the show. It's kind of
Speaker 4: it's kind of crazy when you think about it. I
Speaker 4: was eliminated, you know, so shockingly, and now I'm back
Speaker 4: running the show.
Speaker 3: Basically, it's kind of it's kind of fun.
Speaker 1: I think the biggest take home from chatting with you
Speaker 1: today is about how curiosity is the pathway to authenticity.
Speaker 1: And I think that if you are genuinely curious as
Speaker 1: a person about who you're talking to and what they're saying,
Speaker 1: that comes across that makes people go off. I'm listening
Speaker 1: to a conversation that feels real, and I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I'm there with you. I want to know the answers
Speaker 1: to the questions that you're asking.
Speaker 4: And I think I think as well as like, because
Speaker 4: I've been through I've been through the process, I have
Speaker 4: also even even on top of that, a unique perspective.
Speaker 4: I'm coming at it from a place where I've walked
Speaker 4: in their shoes, Like I'm deeply empathetic and compassionate about
Speaker 4: how everyone is feeling it all time because I have
Speaker 4: felt those things. I've felt terrified about this thing that
Speaker 4: I've been dreaming of, and I've built up in my
Speaker 4: mind that this is going to be the moment, this
Speaker 4: is going to be the thing that changes my life
Speaker 4: and and is the thing this is. After this, I'm
Speaker 4: going to be selling out arenas and I'm going to
Speaker 4: be doing all the things and moving out the dreams
Speaker 4: that I've been dreaming since.
Speaker 3: I was a kid.
Speaker 4: I understand how deeply everyone is feeling that. I understand
Speaker 4: the nerves they're going through, the doubt that's in their mind,
Speaker 4: how much they're doubting every and questioning every single thing
Speaker 4: they're doing. So I try and bring that knowledge and
Speaker 4: that experience to it and just kind of provide them
Speaker 4: they know that, you know, I'm not trying to like
Speaker 4: ever have a gotcha moment.
Speaker 3: I'm not trying to trick you.
Speaker 4: I'm only ever here to try and support you and
Speaker 4: give you the best opportunity to shine. And I think
Speaker 4: everybody knows that when we're doing the show, and I
Speaker 4: think that's why. It's also when you get the best
Speaker 4: out of people. Like if you just ask a cold
Speaker 4: question to someone that's kind of jarring, you're not going
Speaker 4: to get a lovely response, a great, world rounded response.
Speaker 3: You're going to get like a weird, nervous.
Speaker 4: Anxious, strange answer where they're trying to figure something out.
Speaker 3: But you can do this job in a.
Speaker 4: Really lovely, compassionate way and get the best and the
Speaker 4: most out of everyone.
Speaker 1: But I think it's understanding the fabric of a show.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean, And I think, yeah, we
Speaker 1: are a part of that. You get it, Like you've
Speaker 1: seen all that you've lived through, seeing all the different
Speaker 1: judges that have been on this show, do you know
Speaker 1: what I mean? Like you've stood in front of the ogs,
Speaker 1: you know, with dick O and Mark and Marsha back
Speaker 1: in the day. You've stood in front of the judges
Speaker 1: that have come internationally when we rebooted the show here
Speaker 1: in Australia three years ago, and then here you are
Speaker 1: with these three judges who are by the way, the
Speaker 1: chemistry between these three judges this time round, it's just on.
Speaker 3: It's amazing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Marsha's keeping Kyle and Line right in a way
Speaker 1: that anyone that's ever been scared of Kyle. I'm not
Speaker 1: scared of Kyle. I've worked with him so many times
Speaker 1: and I love him. He's such a generous, kind person.
Speaker 1: I love him, Yes, totally. So bizarre when people say
Speaker 1: to me, oh, I think this of Kyle, but she keeps.
Speaker 3: Him in, I know it's because you don't know him.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I've not worked with this person. I was like,
Speaker 1: this person rang Meat after doing three years of breakfast
Speaker 1: radio and said, are you still doing breakfast radio in
Speaker 1: central Queensland. I said, yeah, he goes, oh, well, you
Speaker 1: might as well be the janitor, because if they haven't
Speaker 1: picked you up and put you somewhere else by now,
Speaker 1: you just might as well clean the toilets. And people
Speaker 1: might see that as like a nasty thing. But he
Speaker 1: was absolutely not correct. Who picks up Who at Kyle's
Speaker 1: level would have that conversation with me? You know what,
Speaker 1: I mean, to even be bothered to pick up the
Speaker 1: phone and have that call, But that's to me wild,
Speaker 1: you know, and that's kind.
Speaker 4: No, he's a wonderful and you know, everyone has their
Speaker 4: opinions about everyone, right, but he's a wonderful. He's a
Speaker 4: wonderful person, and he's really supportive and he really he
Speaker 4: really backs people and gets behind you and anything you need,
Speaker 4: I'm here. He really is really generous and helpful and
Speaker 4: thoughtful and goes out of his way to you know,
Speaker 4: check on people and make sure you're okay.
Speaker 3: And he's done the same with me. He's awesome.
Speaker 1: It's amazing, he really is.
Speaker 4: It is nice seeing though, like you know, Marsha is
Speaker 4: like you know, she's a queen, like she's quean Marsha.
Speaker 4: So there's just this respects that is there, and everybody
Speaker 4: respects each other.
Speaker 3: Kyle respects Marsha, and Marsha respects Kyle.
Speaker 2: There's just love and.
Speaker 4: Respect there between everyone. And even for me, I've known
Speaker 4: Marsha since I was on the show twenty one years ago.
Speaker 4: Now I've known Kyle for that.
Speaker 3: Long as well.
Speaker 4: I've been friends with Amy since we were in school,
Speaker 4: really good friends of Amy since we're in school. So
Speaker 4: it's like, not only is there just this, there is
Speaker 4: beautiful chemistry because we're all friends.
Speaker 3: Same with Scott.
Speaker 4: It's just like there's love, respect, friendship, and we all
Speaker 4: want the best for everyone who's walking on that stage.
Speaker 4: And I think that breeds a really amazing environment on
Speaker 4: set offset behind the scenes, the whole crew. There's still
Speaker 4: crew that works on the show that was on the
Speaker 4: when I was on the show, Like it's just everybody. Yes,
Speaker 4: we're there to make a great TV show with great
Speaker 4: moments and a drama with all of that stuff, And
Speaker 4: that naturally.
Speaker 3: Happens when you provide a safe.
Speaker 4: And loving and encouraging environment for people to try their
Speaker 4: best and go out in a limb and give it
Speaker 4: a shit and that's what we all do. And I
Speaker 4: think that's why this show is so great, because people
Speaker 4: are loving that there's a lot of love in the room,
Speaker 4: but you know, there's also a lot of drama that
Speaker 4: just naturally happens. I think that's what makes it such
Speaker 4: a great family show. It's not nasty, it's not coming
Speaker 4: from a bad place where you know, there's weird edits
Speaker 4: and things happening. It's just a genuine not a love fest.
Speaker 4: But there's just a lot there and it's great for
Speaker 4: the whole family.
Speaker 1: I watched a preview episode with my best friend and
Speaker 1: her daughter was with us. Yeah, And it was so
Speaker 1: bizarre because my best friend and I lived together in
Speaker 1: the two thousands when Idle was first on TV. We
Speaker 1: watched it when we were twenty two together and here
Speaker 1: we are in our forties watching it with her daughter,
Speaker 1: who is then enjoying the show in the same way
Speaker 1: that we did. And I was like, this is so good, Like,
Speaker 1: this is so good to be able to show that
Speaker 1: this vehicle of Australian idol has been something in our
Speaker 1: life for so long that has made so many people's
Speaker 1: dreams actually come true. Yeah, show children to work hard
Speaker 1: and to believe in yourself. Like there's a lot in
Speaker 1: there's a lot in this show. That's what makes television
Speaker 1: so good.
Speaker 3: Oh, there's a.
Speaker 4: Lot of lessons in there, like when you go through
Speaker 4: like you know, you go through auditions, and sometimes people
Speaker 4: really have to fight for their for their spot. They
Speaker 4: have to really convince the judges because maybe they've got
Speaker 4: to sing another song, maybe they didn't quite hit them up,
Speaker 4: maybe there's something.
Speaker 3: That they can see they're not quite sure.
Speaker 4: Then you get to top thirty and sometimes people fall
Speaker 4: apart and it's like sometimes people don't bother learning the words,
Speaker 4: and there are lessons in there.
Speaker 3: Do you want this?
Speaker 2: Why are you not learning the freaking words?
Speaker 4: Like, it's just there's so many little things and I
Speaker 4: think it's why there you.
Speaker 3: Know, we have such a broad audience.
Speaker 4: You've got little kids watching it, You've got people in
Speaker 4: the early teenagers and early twenties, and then you've got
Speaker 4: the moms, and you've got the grandmas, and you've got
Speaker 4: auntie and uncle, and you've got everyone across the board
Speaker 4: watching this show because it really is for everyone, and
Speaker 4: everybody loves sitting back in their chair and judging and
Speaker 4: saying whether they do or don't like someone, or they
Speaker 4: think that person should have got through or they shouldn't,
Speaker 4: or that was a terrible performance there last.
Speaker 2: Week was better.
Speaker 4: People are filled with opinions and love that, and I
Speaker 4: think that's what this show stirs, which is it's really
Speaker 4: fun and it's fun to watch who people fall in
Speaker 4: love with. Like out of those first few episodes, you
Speaker 4: watched who jumped.
Speaker 2: Out at you?
Speaker 1: And I'm so obsessed with the first girl that walked out.
Speaker 1: I think her name was Eilish. I'm from the Alanis
Speaker 1: Morissette generation, so I yeah, is in my DNA. And
Speaker 1: when she came out and her accent was so rough
Speaker 1: and so.
Speaker 3: Wrong, I don't get that.
Speaker 4: I'm kilken.
Speaker 1: I didn't even know what she was saying. I didn't either,
Speaker 1: But then she and she was super.
Speaker 3: Quiet, like when I.
Speaker 4: Saw it, she's super quiet, and then she's got this
Speaker 4: really rough accent and You're like, what is this girl going.
Speaker 1: To do something amazing? And that's where you've got your
Speaker 1: Susan Boyle moment where people go there's this washer woman
Speaker 1: and then Susan Boyle bounced out with like, you know,
Speaker 1: echoed a song that is still being you know, remembered
Speaker 1: as a TV moment for years, and that Eilish moment
Speaker 1: to me was something like that where you can't judge
Speaker 1: a book by its cover, you know, you can't judge
Speaker 1: someone by their accent. Dummy him is a good example
Speaker 1: of that as well. These beautiful voices, these incredible TV
Speaker 1: moments are created by people that are the underdogs and
Speaker 1: they're the everyday Australians.
Speaker 2: I think that's so cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, John, Yeah, I thought I was worried he wasnt
Speaker 1: going to get through and I was like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: you know, like you stuff.
Speaker 3: He's like the nicest person on earth.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, story with the trampoline.
Speaker 4: For me, Marcell Hamburger was I'm obsessed with him. First
Speaker 4: of all, Hamburger is the last name, not last name.
Speaker 3: I'm a fan.
Speaker 4: Instantly, but just like, I mean again, like he's just
Speaker 4: this awkward.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, you're on edge.
Speaker 4: The whole time you're watching him until he sings, and
Speaker 4: it's just magical. And I think that's what the great
Speaker 4: thing about this show is is just the surprises, and
Speaker 4: it's always unexpected.
Speaker 3: Someone walks in the room, you think.
Speaker 4: You know what's going to happen, and you don't, and
Speaker 4: then that still happens. Even when the live shows and
Speaker 4: you know, these people are great thingers, still things happen,
Speaker 4: and it's just I don't know, it's so exciting.
Speaker 3: I love this show so much.
Speaker 1: Before I let you go, I ask everyone the same question.
Speaker 1: So I've been doing this for a while, but what
Speaker 1: is something from behind the scenes of Idol? Something that
Speaker 1: is kind of a behind the scenes secret? And I
Speaker 1: kind of thought of something that I wanted to ask you,
Speaker 1: is that do people ask you about which judge you
Speaker 1: would like to see return to the show, like whether
Speaker 1: it's Harry Connick Junior or Mark Holden or is there
Speaker 1: a judge though that because you are one of the
Speaker 1: only people who have been in front of all of
Speaker 1: these people, so you have a POV that's different to
Speaker 1: what even the viewer has.
Speaker 4: Oh that's a really it is a really interesting question.
Speaker 4: I think it's great having with our judges. Everyone has
Speaker 4: their own perspective, right And Kyle has been a part
Speaker 4: of supporting and making and breaking artists for his whole career.
Speaker 4: He certainly has been a huge supporter of mine and
Speaker 4: so many other Australian artists throughout the years. He's really amazing,
Speaker 4: an amazing person to having your corner. Marster is just
Speaker 4: a queen, Like we say this, you know, really full
Speaker 4: stop queen martyr.
Speaker 2: Amy's incredible.
Speaker 3: She's worked so hard, She's got an interesting perspective.
Speaker 4: I think I'm really out of the judges that I've
Speaker 4: seen and worked with. I mean, I had a really
Speaker 4: great friendship with Dicko and I really respect like he was,
Speaker 4: you know, a lot of the time touted the mean judge,
Speaker 4: but it's not really that mean. When you think of
Speaker 4: the things that are said in boardrooms when you're actually
Speaker 4: an artist and in the industry and how cut throat
Speaker 4: it is and how black and white things are.
Speaker 2: There is no you know, blurry middle ground.
Speaker 4: It either is this or it's not, or you don't know,
Speaker 4: and you figure it out and you know really quickly
Speaker 4: if it is or isn't a hit or good or
Speaker 4: going to work or whatever. And I kind of I
Speaker 4: did love his honesty and Canada like. I think he
Speaker 4: was just very sharpshooter, straight suitor, be as it was,
Speaker 4: because that's what the industry is like, and Kyle does
Speaker 4: that as well.
Speaker 3: This industry, it is.
Speaker 4: Savage, is brutal, and it's savage, and I think if
Speaker 4: you have to have a thick skin to be able
Speaker 4: to survive in this industry, and like, there are things
Speaker 4: that have been said.
Speaker 3: Of course, you know that people don't like.
Speaker 4: About the way someone looks or that weighs, the way
Speaker 4: someone is dressed. But if you look at any of
Speaker 4: the comments on social media, people at home are saying
Speaker 4: those exact things. Or when you go out on TV
Speaker 4: in an outfit that's maybe not flattering or you, or
Speaker 4: people just didn't like the way you sing.
Speaker 3: Sometimes people just don't like your space and they.
Speaker 4: Just don't like you, and they will go and find
Speaker 4: a place to tell you that.
Speaker 3: I think it's funny.
Speaker 4: When people get outraged by some of the you know,
Speaker 4: they say nasty things that are said, but that's those
Speaker 4: are just honest a lot of the time constructive things
Speaker 4: that are being said to you that you can improve on.
Speaker 4: And I mean, yeah, all you have to do is
Speaker 4: have a look in the comments on Facebook or Instagram
Speaker 4: or TikTok or anywhere, and you know, on news articles
Speaker 4: to see how nasty people at home can be. So
Speaker 4: you know, if you can't hear it from someone you respect,
Speaker 4: that is in the industry, you're going to really struggle
Speaker 4: to make it through with all of the noise and
Speaker 4: all of the people's opinions out there in the world.
Speaker 1: So I think Diggo as well was really iconic for
Speaker 1: that time as well, because you know, he himself could
Speaker 1: have walked on stage and tried to be palatable or
Speaker 1: tried to make the audience love him or whatever, and
Speaker 1: he was like, absolutely not. I'm going to put my face,
Speaker 1: my name to these comments and help these young people
Speaker 1: be prepared for an industry that is brutal. So it
Speaker 1: starts here totally.
Speaker 4: And Kyle does the same thing, and he cops a
Speaker 4: lot of flack for saying things that everyone is thinking,
Speaker 4: oh my god, why does he have to say something
Speaker 4: so mean, but that he's actually it's really ballsy to
Speaker 4: look someone in the ir national TV and know that
Speaker 4: people are going to think that it's horrible what you're saying,
Speaker 4: but say it for the greater good of telling the
Speaker 4: person what they need to hear. And I think I'm
Speaker 4: the kind of person that appreciates that.
Speaker 3: I'm always the.
Speaker 4: Person that's like, just tell me exactly, Like tell me,
Speaker 4: I don't want you to mince your word.
Speaker 3: Just tell me exactly that some people are.
Speaker 4: A bit less confident, and they're a bit softer, and
Speaker 4: they're not so strong and so resilient. So it is
Speaker 4: harder for some people to take. But unfortunately that is
Speaker 4: the reality of our business, is that you know, there
Speaker 4: are hard conversations that you have to have all the time.
Speaker 2: I'm married to my manager.
Speaker 3: Can you imagine what those conversations are like sometimes.
Speaker 1: Well, I've been rolling on a river with you for
Speaker 1: so crowd marry red by lund room and my two
Speaker 1: best girlfriends say to me, that's regularly cool to dance
Speaker 1: moves right there. And I am obsessed with you. I've
Speaker 1: been in your audience for so long. I have seen
Speaker 1: you live, I've seen you shape shift over the many years,
Speaker 1: and I am in your audience and I think you
Speaker 1: do such a fantastic job. And thank you for being
Speaker 1: so generous with your time and talking to me today.
Speaker 1: It has actually made my week.
Speaker 2: Of course, anytime love chatting with you.
Speaker 3: It's been a real pleasure. Thank you for having me. Bye,
Speaker 3: god see you later.
Speaker 2: Thanks