Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast last deep their line Welcome back
Speaker 1: to TV Reload. My name is Benjamin Norris and this
Speaker 1: is your podcast to get all the inside goss on
Speaker 1: the popular TV shows you may be watching from around
Speaker 1: the world. Undeniably, our TV sets are a major part
Speaker 1: of our home entertainment and very little is known about
Speaker 1: how our favorite shows get made. So each episode I
Speaker 1: find guests that want to dive just that little bit
Speaker 1: deeper into the shows they're currently making, so that you
Speaker 1: can hear all their exclusive stories and gain access to
Speaker 1: the biggest names in Australian television. I want to thank
Speaker 1: you for downloading or subscribing to this podcast. I love
Speaker 1: hearing your feedback, so make sure you leave a comment
Speaker 1: on your chosen podcast platform and I'll make sure you
Speaker 1: feel as included in the production of this show as
Speaker 1: I possibly can. On today's episode, I have a full
Speaker 1: debrief with the winner of Australian Idol twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: which just finished up on Channel seven last night. Royston
Speaker 1: beat Josh and Phoebe at the final hurdle and what
Speaker 1: a night of television that finale was. With epic performances,
Speaker 1: some technical difficulties, had some controversial comments from Kyle. However,
Speaker 1: nothing could take away from the triumphant moment where we
Speaker 1: saw Royston crowned as the winner. Royston represented the minorities
Speaker 1: of Australia with a powerful message to believe in yourself
Speaker 1: as anything as possible. We will talk today about those
Speaker 1: live moments throughout the night and what really happened during
Speaker 1: Royston's performance of the winner's single. Royston will also share
Speaker 1: which winner from the first seasons of Idle messaged him
Speaker 1: after the show. Royston and I will also get into
Speaker 1: those ruthless comments from Kyle Sanderlands and he talks about
Speaker 1: why he thinks those comments might have been wrong. Plus,
Speaker 1: we will get some exclusives on the new series, including
Speaker 1: some behind the scenes secrets which I'm sure you will love. However,
Speaker 1: let's bring Royston into the podcast and celebrate his exciting win,
Speaker 1: which you can now catch up on on seven Plus. Hi, Roysden,
Speaker 1: how are you hello?
Speaker 2: I'm so good, how are you?
Speaker 1: Very excited to be talking to you. Congratulations on Australian
Speaker 1: Idol for twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, just so wild even like you're
Speaker 2: just saying that it still feels unreal, like it's not real.
Speaker 1: What can you remember from Actually, I just want to
Speaker 1: fill you in on when I did so last night
Speaker 1: I had my own little Australian Idol party, So it's
Speaker 1: having a few wines and watching it. And what a
Speaker 1: wild ride that finale was.
Speaker 2: It was crazy, you know, live tally anythinking happened.
Speaker 1: What can you remember from that moment though? Because I
Speaker 1: was looking at you and you were sort of deer
Speaker 1: in the headlights and you got to say you said
Speaker 1: some amazing things straight away, But I think that must
Speaker 1: have been sort of programmed into you to naturally go off. Yeah.
Speaker 2: No, I just it felt unreal, like like I just
Speaker 2: when they call my name, I just remember having this
Speaker 2: gush of emotions and feeling so just incredibly grateful, and
Speaker 2: you know, I was so I've been so vulnerable over
Speaker 2: the past few weeks over the show, and like, you know,
Speaker 2: the response has been so amazing, and like I can't
Speaker 2: believe I was able to tell my story and stuff,
Speaker 2: and you know, Australia just welcomed me with open arms,
Speaker 2: you know, and just really embraced me for who I
Speaker 2: am and believed in me and voted for me, and
Speaker 2: then I started crying and there my eyes starting to
Speaker 2: burn from the makeup, and then it was crazy.
Speaker 1: You know, what I thought was a really beautiful moment
Speaker 1: was that, you know, Ricky Larly cool To has done
Speaker 1: such an amazing job this season, like unbelievable, but there
Speaker 1: was a really kind moment where she wiped away the
Speaker 1: mascara from your eyes. Do you remember her doing that? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah I do. Ricky is the most beautiful person ever,
Speaker 2: like she's inside out. She's just such an amazing human
Speaker 2: being and I love her, and yeah, that was really
Speaker 2: special of her because I was like, is my Misscara running?
Speaker 2: Like I need to stop crying. No, it was so beautiful.
Speaker 2: I love her so much. And yeah, when there was
Speaker 2: like waiting to say who it was, that was torture though.
Speaker 2: I was like, can you tell us already?
Speaker 1: That's the worst part, And it feels like time has
Speaker 1: completely slowed down and you're like, come on, let's just
Speaker 1: get to forget the TV moment we need to get
Speaker 1: Just tell me what's going to happen. I want to
Speaker 1: say something which is which is not a negative at
Speaker 1: all about the live finale we saw some moments last night,
Speaker 1: you know where Phoebe fell over and you know you
Speaker 1: struggled to overcome your emotions with that live performance. But
Speaker 1: I love reality television and I love when we get
Speaker 1: to see real moments. You know. How are you feeling
Speaker 1: about those sort of fumbles last night? Are you taking
Speaker 1: it on the chin and just thinking, well, I'm glad
Speaker 1: Australia was there to watch the you know the reality
Speaker 1: of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, it was actually like technical difficulties with mine. Apparently,
Speaker 2: like I could hear myself in my innears and I
Speaker 2: was singing, but that like the live audience and the
Speaker 2: judges couldn't hear anything from the mic or anything like that,
Speaker 2: and they were like telling me, like, we can't hear.
Speaker 2: And then I pulled my inneas down and I was
Speaker 2: like what like? And then I had for a moment
Speaker 2: was thinking, oh, can I start? Can we start the
Speaker 2: song again? But then I was like, oh wait, we're live,
Speaker 2: like we have to we have to keep going, and
Speaker 2: so yeah, and I don't. I only realized this morning
Speaker 2: when they told me that, like the audience at home
Speaker 2: could still hear, it was just the live audience that
Speaker 2: couldn't hear. Anything. It was a bit of a mess up,
Speaker 2: but you know, I knew the chorus was coming in
Speaker 2: and I was I just had to give it everything.
Speaker 2: And I was flustered with you know, emotions and everything
Speaker 2: as well, but I just knew I had to give
Speaker 2: a good performance, just the last one on that stage,
Speaker 2: you know, which means everything. That stage means everything. And
Speaker 2: it was crazy, but.
Speaker 1: Ye do kind of get used to the fact that
Speaker 1: when you're pre recording some parts of a show and
Speaker 1: some parts of it alive, you do get that moment
Speaker 1: like I feel like Phoebe turned around and went to
Speaker 1: go walk back up the stairs and try and do
Speaker 1: her entrance again. Yeah, that must have been in her mind, like,
Speaker 1: oh well, whoopsie doopsy, let's go again.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, we she did think that, and I was like, like,
Speaker 2: this week it's live, we gotta go. We need to
Speaker 2: keep going. I loved it. She's a champ. She took it,
Speaker 2: you know, took it on the chin and just kept going.
Speaker 2: She was a trooper about it. And if I was
Speaker 2: fifteen and that happened to me, I would have been
Speaker 2: crying running off that stage. So you you know, she's
Speaker 2: so amazing and I love her, she's yeah.
Speaker 1: What was the feeling like, because when the show launched
Speaker 1: and we got to see the audience reactions to you guys,
Speaker 1: both Scott and Ricky reached out to the audience to say,
Speaker 1: who do you think is going to win? And we
Speaker 1: got the reactions. At that point, I was thinking, Josh
Speaker 1: is going to take this competition out? Who was the favorite?
Speaker 1: In reality? Like between the three of you, was there
Speaker 1: a conversation happening or did you honestly all think it
Speaker 1: was anyone's it was anyone's win.
Speaker 2: We all just thought it was anyone's win, honestly, But
Speaker 2: the crowd were really going well for Josh. There was
Speaker 2: no telling what was going to happen. The good thing
Speaker 2: about like this season and all of us contestants is
Speaker 2: we were also close. We were all rooting for each other.
Speaker 2: There was no divas in the group, like you know,
Speaker 2: we all genuinely loved each other and it was just
Speaker 2: it was a good environment and they're all amazing honestly.
Speaker 1: Well, you clearly had the best voice of the season,
Speaker 1: like consistently. I got to see the first performance of
Speaker 1: the Top twelve live and I was completely blown away.
Speaker 1: You know, at times I feel like Australia went on
Speaker 1: a rollercoaster of all we now like Phoebe or we
Speaker 1: now like Josh or you know, it did sort of
Speaker 1: move around a lot. However, it was very clear to
Speaker 1: Australia that you did have the most polished voice.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you so much. That means a lot. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm so grateful for Australia for believing in me, and yeah,
Speaker 2: taking taking me and like getting me to the top
Speaker 2: of the compositions is so wild and I honestly, I'm
Speaker 2: just so grateful. It's just, yeah, it's wild. I feel
Speaker 2: like it's a dream. I actually need to feel like
Speaker 2: I need to sit down for like a day or
Speaker 2: two and just really absorb this and just think like
Speaker 2: you like won this, like you're in the likes of
Speaker 2: like guys Sebastian and Casey Donovan and all of them,
Speaker 2: and it just, yeah, it's really crazy. I'm so grateful.
Speaker 1: Honestly, have any of the other previous winners of Australian
Speaker 1: Idol been in contact with you today or throughout the cop.
Speaker 2: He sent me a message on Instagram last night which
Speaker 2: was crazy, like I was so blown away, and yeah,
Speaker 2: I just thanked him for like his support and stuff.
Speaker 2: And you know, jess my boy, I met her last
Speaker 2: night at Idol and stuff, and she's been like one
Speaker 2: of my biggest inspirations, you know, because she's like a
Speaker 2: really good Indigenous role model. And I remember when I
Speaker 2: was young watching Idol and I used to think like, oh,
Speaker 2: I want to do that. If Jessica Maverick can do it,
Speaker 2: I'm sure I can do it, you know. And that's
Speaker 2: how powerful representation on TV is, you know. And that's
Speaker 2: what It's like a full circle moment now and I'm
Speaker 2: doing this and I'm sure all these little kids are
Speaker 2: probably thinking the same thing, and I hope they are
Speaker 2: because I'm really passionate about that.
Speaker 1: Well, you want to create a voice and visibility for
Speaker 1: your communities, which I think you have already done in
Speaker 1: a massive way by winning this competition. But what do
Speaker 1: you want to do now in terms of, you know,
Speaker 1: continuing this story for them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to be able to go into community,
Speaker 2: do workshops with the kids, you know, do talks and stuff.
Speaker 2: I'm really passionate about that stuff. I want to do
Speaker 2: all of that kinds of stuff and just let the
Speaker 2: kids know that, you know, if you work hard, doesn't
Speaker 2: matter where you come from. Like I come from a
Speaker 2: small indigenous remote community and Final Queens and you know,
Speaker 2: three hundred and fifty people and there's no music opportunities there.
Speaker 2: I had to work really hard, you know and stuff
Speaker 2: and look where I am, you know, So I definitely
Speaker 2: want to do stuff like that and really help inspire
Speaker 2: the next generation for sure.
Speaker 1: Well, I think you could package something up and go
Speaker 1: around and tour at schools because you know, not just
Speaker 1: in remote areas of Australia, but all around Australia. I
Speaker 1: think it's a really positive message. You know, you have
Speaker 1: really proved to everybody that you know, believing in yourself
Speaker 1: and taking that huge risk of going on national television
Speaker 1: can pay off.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and that's that's kind of like why,
Speaker 2: like I kind of peeled those layers off, you know
Speaker 2: every week on the show. You know, I spoke about
Speaker 2: representation for like indigenous kids in the remote areas, but
Speaker 2: I also then talked about the bullying side of being
Speaker 2: like you know, queer, like gay for my instance, and
Speaker 2: and that what that came along with, like you know,
Speaker 2: music and stuff like that. And I just wanted to
Speaker 2: be able to tell my story authentically and help hopefully
Speaker 2: connect with other young people that have gone through similar things,
Speaker 2: you know, and tell them that it gets better, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, and just focus on you and
Speaker 2: your dreams. So I'm so glad I was able to
Speaker 2: tell that, and you know, because the week we got
Speaker 2: to do that was with True Colors, and it was
Speaker 2: the perfect song for for that, you know. And I remember, yeah,
Speaker 2: when they was interviewing me about that song, and I
Speaker 2: just cried because it was like I was singing that
Speaker 2: song for my younger self, you know, who was so
Speaker 2: shy that didn't sing, didn't want to sing in front
Speaker 2: of anybody, that used to get bullied in it, and
Speaker 2: it was like, I can see your true colors, like
Speaker 2: to myself. It was like I was performing to my
Speaker 2: past self, you know. And I want to tell that
Speaker 2: little kid that it's okay to be your beautiful, wonderful self.
Speaker 2: Don't care what anybody says.
Speaker 1: It's just so powerful to be able to do and
Speaker 1: representing different minorities. You know that you have done so
Speaker 1: effortlessly throughout this competition, you know, people interacting with you
Speaker 1: along the way. Have you had more people from any
Speaker 1: of those minorities reaching out or interacting with you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, here's the people from the LGBT community, the indigenous community,
Speaker 2: you know, just people in general that have went through
Speaker 2: struggles and they connected through my stories, you know. And
Speaker 2: that's what's powerful about, like telling your story and using
Speaker 2: it as a power, you know, taking back that power.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I'm just so glad I got to do
Speaker 2: that for other people. And also it's also healing for
Speaker 2: me as well to see that I'm healing other people,
Speaker 2: you know, And it's so amazing and I'm just so
Speaker 2: grateful I got this opportunity to be able to tell
Speaker 2: my story.
Speaker 1: Honestly, I have to ask, has Sony already reached out
Speaker 1: to you? I mean, what sort of in direction have
Speaker 1: you had from Sony Music at this stage?
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, we have some meetings this afternoon, which I'm
Speaker 2: so excited about, and yeah, meetings with my new management team,
Speaker 2: and so it's all going to happen, and yeah, it's
Speaker 2: the first day of my life. This is so crazy.
Speaker 1: Which management company have you signed with?
Speaker 2: Private Idaho?
Speaker 1: Is that sort of a part of the winning of
Speaker 1: the show or was that you start Okay, it was
Speaker 1: a part of that, wasn't a conversation you started yourself. No,
Speaker 1: well that's exciting, you know. And the other question I
Speaker 1: was going to ask you about was do you think
Speaker 1: that you would collaborate with any of the other contestants
Speaker 1: from the Top twelve, because you know so much has
Speaker 1: been said in the media about this friendship that you
Speaker 1: will have. Are there anyone Is there anyone in the
Speaker 1: top twelve that you think you'd collaborate with on a song?
Speaker 2: I would love to collaborate Phoebe. I would love to
Speaker 2: do like a big ballad song with her. Laura, She's amazing,
Speaker 2: Maya Harry. There's so many amazing artists. Yeah, some are
Speaker 2: like not like in my realm of music, which is
Speaker 2: totally fine, but they're all so amazing in their own rights,
Speaker 2: and yeah, I would love a chance to collaborate with them.
Speaker 2: I mean, they were all so talented and it was
Speaker 2: really anybody's game, Like everybody was so worthy enough of
Speaker 2: the title of Australian Idol, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And it was just how Australia connected with the contestants.
Speaker 2: And I'm so grateful that they did to me, which
Speaker 2: is so amazing, and I'm so honestly just so grateful.
Speaker 1: And Australian Idol is very much show about the contestants,
Speaker 1: but a huge part of it is the judges that
Speaker 1: are there. They have such big personalities and they're there
Speaker 1: to help you along the way. I want to ask,
Speaker 1: you know, how much did Kyle, Meghan Amy and Harry
Speaker 1: how much did all of those judges help you get
Speaker 1: through this competition?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, just them and their you know comments,
Speaker 2: like validating you each week and telling you that you're
Speaker 2: good and you did an amazing performance was enough, you know,
Speaker 2: like that that really helped us to get gain the
Speaker 2: confidence to get on that stage and do what we did,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean? And yeah, it's so amazing
Speaker 2: they I guess it's just words, but it means so
Speaker 2: much to us because they're like such big dogs in there,
Speaker 2: you know, in their industries and stuff, and it's just
Speaker 2: it's so crazy and I'm so grateful for them and
Speaker 2: their support. Honestly, I got to chat with some of
Speaker 2: them last night at the rap party, which was really lovely,
Speaker 2: and yeah, they were also stoked and happy for me.
Speaker 1: Do you think that Kyle sata Lenz is regretting that
Speaker 1: comment that he made last night about the second person disappearing.
Speaker 1: I think he's the sort of person that says something
Speaker 1: and then you can kind of see it in his
Speaker 1: eyes that he thinks, Oh, I don't know if that's
Speaker 1: the right thing to say.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I don't know. I don't know why he
Speaker 2: said that, which is not true. I mean, look, we
Speaker 2: had Jessica Malboys. She didn't she was like second or third,
Speaker 2: So it's not true.
Speaker 1: He needed to think about that one a little bit more.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, live television, Phoebe's fallen down the stairs,
Speaker 1: you know, you might have forgotten the words in cars
Speaker 1: Angeleans as well, and truly put his foot in his mouth.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I just want to I do want to
Speaker 2: say that I did not forget the words. It was
Speaker 2: technical difficulties.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, sorry, that's and you know what, people who
Speaker 1: are listening to this podcast are going to love you
Speaker 1: correcting me on that. They'll be like benu asshole. Everyone
Speaker 1: was also waiting to see whether or not there was
Speaker 1: going to be an announcement for an Australian idol for
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. Do you know any information as to
Speaker 1: whether or not we're going to get to see another series?
Speaker 2: No, I have no idea I know. Yeah, I actually
Speaker 2: don't know what's happening. I hope there's going to be
Speaker 2: another series. I did see that they were they were
Speaker 2: asking us to say, oh, you should apply now, and
Speaker 2: so we did like little videos and stuff. So I'm
Speaker 2: guessing there will be. I don't even know if I'm
Speaker 2: allowed to say this, but.
Speaker 1: That's enough of a teast. We'll just leave We'll leave
Speaker 1: that as speculation. But that's enough of a tease because
Speaker 1: I know that last night I was reading online that
Speaker 1: you know, there was so many young people inspired by
Speaker 1: you winning last night and saying that they would love
Speaker 1: to apply and take on the Austraian Idle Journey. So
Speaker 1: I just thought it was an important question to ask
Speaker 1: because there are lots of people want to follow in
Speaker 1: your footsteps.
Speaker 2: I can't believe I'm in this position to like help
Speaker 2: empower people and you know, other than music, that is
Speaker 2: such a big passion of mine, you know, and it
Speaker 2: just means everything, honestly, it really does.
Speaker 1: Well. Everyone who joins the podcast gets asked this question,
Speaker 1: what is something from behind the scenes, something that we
Speaker 1: did not see, something that we might appreciate from behind
Speaker 1: the scenes of your journey on Australian Idol.
Speaker 2: Behind the scenes, it was very long weeks, long days,
Speaker 2: you know, and people only see like the hour and
Speaker 2: a half that's on TV. But we work so so
Speaker 2: so hard, you know what I mean, which we're happy
Speaker 2: to do that, like it's going to be for our
Speaker 2: careers and stuff. But it is a long journey, as
Speaker 2: I'm sure you know, and stuff as well. And I
Speaker 2: reckon people would be more appreciative if they knew, like
Speaker 2: how like the early mornings and getting up. But it's
Speaker 2: so good as well because it like really prepares us
Speaker 2: for the industry as well. This is like a quick
Speaker 2: boot camp into like you know, what the industry is
Speaker 2: going to be like and stuff like that. So I
Speaker 2: appreciate everything honestly. But yeah, it was a lot, but
Speaker 2: I'm so grateful for the whole opportunity.
Speaker 1: I remember talking to Guys Sebastian at the Logis the
Speaker 1: year after he won. This goes to show you how
Speaker 1: old I am. Interesting, you know, he was saying he
Speaker 1: was just going to keep the momentum going by doing
Speaker 1: the hours that he was already doing during the show.
Speaker 1: And I think a large part of Guys Sebastian's success
Speaker 1: has been his work ethic, you know, and being able
Speaker 1: to self motivate and get out there and do it himself.
Speaker 1: Think that's that's really powerful. So any of those people
Speaker 1: that have reached out to you, like guys Sebastian, you know,
Speaker 1: I'd suggest, you know, keep in contact with them because
Speaker 1: they they've been there before and I'm sure that they
Speaker 1: would want to help you.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, definitely, you know, anybody that's been through this
Speaker 2: kind of this journey of like winning a straight and
Speaker 2: nile guy, I think it would be an awesome person
Speaker 2: to reach out to and keep in my contacts. If
Speaker 2: he's willing to speak with me, I hope so.
Speaker 1: But yeah, well I'm gonna let you go, but I'll
Speaker 1: give you the time to go through your Instagram and
Speaker 1: all your social media and see all the comments from
Speaker 1: everybody that has supported you throughout the competition. I want
Speaker 1: to thank you for being so generous and chatting with
Speaker 1: me today. This has been a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: It has been Thank you so much for your time. Honestly,