February 2, 2025 • 33 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's in the news today, but it was actually on
TV Reload, the podcast last week that life. Hey guys,
welcome back to TV Reload. I want to thank you
for clicking and downloading on today's episode with Ricky Lee Coolter,
one of the most successful alumnis from Australian Idol and
she is back this year hosting the reboot on Channel seven.
I have spent so much time with Ricky Lee over
(00:21):
the years. I don't even think she remembers how many
times I've been in the room with her. I couldn't
say that we are close friends, but I could say
that in fact, I'm a part of the fandom of
the Ricky Lee Coulter fan club because I think she
is talented, I think she's determined, and I am so
impressed with how she has been able to shape her career.
Australian Idol is back this week and the voices I'm
(00:44):
going to tell you from previewing a couple of episodes
are bigger and better than ever. The age restrictions have
changed and that's actually really exciting to see how the
show has evolved over time. Ricky Lee will unpack that
song from Sex and the City that put her on
the map international. We will chat about her relationship with
the judges and why Kyle Sandalans and former judge Ian
(01:06):
Dixon have her respect. I find out about her thoughts
on some of the artists this year and why she
relates to the pressure that they are under. You will
get everything from some amazing insights into how her career
has had some tough choices, what it takes to be
a TV presenter, and how over two decades she has
stayed grounded. There is so much to talk about, with
(01:29):
so many inside revelations, So guys sit back and relax
as we unpack the wonderful world of Australian Idol, which
launches this week on Channel seven and seven plus.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Hello, Hi, how are you?
Speaker 1 (01:43):
I'm very excited? Do you know what I just did?
I just while I was waiting watched at one of
your concerts. I was in the front row and you
came down, grabbed gave me the microphone and I sung
a line of Michael Jackson and I've got it on video.
So I just rewatched it. I love it.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Where was that?
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Oh? It's a Crown casino. Years ago for one of
the might have been like the Royal Children's Hospital. I'm
not sure it was a charity. Yeah, but you know,
my partner was like, you're always staring at the singer
like you want to do it, and he goes, I
reckon that recently just saw you and was like, that
guy's desperate. I'm gonna have to give him the microphone.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Oh. I mean, I love handing the microphone out and
getting people to sing. It's one of my favorite things
to do.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Well, this is super exciting to chat with you today.
And when I was writing out what I was going
to ask you, I wrote a book so if you
ever need something to help you with an unauthorized biography.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I was doing.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
I was doing like like sometimes people will like email
question like you know Q and A.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
And I have to restrain.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Myself because I start it's like I'm telling my last
story and it's like I'm writing a book when I
do these things, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Like, Ricky, I have to tell myself, no one.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Cares they do about like your deep the darkest like
feelings and thoughts and emotions, just like give a funny
little quick answer and get the hell out of it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I'm not weirder because I I think of questions that
I would ask you all the time, and when I
thought about it, I've put this question right in at
the start because I've always wanted to talk to you
about it. But one of my favorite songs is you
Can't Touch It, and I wanted to know forever how
the hell did that end up on the Sex and
the City trailer and soundtrack. That must have been such
an unusual thing to have happened. You must have been elated.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
I mean I was dying when I the way that
it all happened because I wrote the song.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Yeah, we wrote the song in two thousand and seven.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
So when you're a songwriter, if somebody wants to use
your song in a movie or in a TV commercial
or something like that, they have to seek permission.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
From the songwriter. Yeah, so we got a request through.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
And this is like, you know, three or four years
after the song came out, we got a request through
from from Warner Brothers, asking can we think this song
in a movie? They didn't say what the movie was,
and then they specify all of the different usages.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
That it'll be to be like in.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
The film in the trailer, on the set track, and
they tell you the parts of the song, the duration
of the song that will be used, and blah blah blah,
and then they give you to see and you basically
just have to.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Agree or not agree to it.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
And I honestly feel like, because things like this happened,
there's another thing that happened and it's kind of similar.
I feel like it was like an Australian gay that
that were with working at Warner Brothers US or something,
and I was like, I can love this song, and
they put forward my song somehow. I just can't imagine
(04:32):
how my song came across the desk of someone one
of the big wigs at Warner Brothers in the US, Like,
I just don't other than it being an Australian gay
that's like, hey, babe, do you want to hear this
amazing song I heard? And I truly think that that's
how it happened. So shit, So then I so I
approved the I approved the sink and literally it was
(04:52):
days I think it was like three or four days later.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I came home in the afternoon.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Remember what did you ever watch a news is like
Juliana around sick and Ryan Secret of course, so I
sit on accounts and I've popped on the E News
and I'm watching Juliana and Ryan and they throw to this,
like this big thing we've got the new the brand
new trailer, the first look at the new Sex and
the City movie, and they throw to it and it
starts out with like empire state of mind, New York
(05:20):
concrete jungle where dreams are made of and you're seeing
all of the girls and you're seeing that they're here,
there and everywhere, and then all of a sudden, it
just go it drops, and it goes dud dude, dude,
and the drums for Can't Touch It start. I almost
ship myself. I jumped up, I was screaming, I was
running around the house. It was just the most I
(05:43):
wrote that song. I wrote Can't Touch It in New
York the first time I ever went there, about going
out with my girlfriend who was with me, and like
guys trying to hit on us, and then it ends
up in the movie that is the quintessential show about
New York and the girls and.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Going out and finding love.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
It was just meant it couldn't be more perfect.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I remember dancing to it in like a gay nightclub
and it was like wild, like everyone was dancing to it,
and I remember feeling so proud of you. I had
the goosies then and I've got the goosies now just
even talking to you about that story.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
Oh, it's such a crazy it's such a crazy story.
And I still can't believe that it happened. And it's
like like the song because I we'd released it in
Australia and it was it got to like number two
on the charts. It was this huge song here in Australia,
and it also got released in the UK and was
like number two on the charts over there as well.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
We were number one on the dance chart.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
And it was just like, so it had had its life,
I thought, and I thought, you know, that was that
was it. But then it got released internationally, you know,
by a Sex in the City.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Basically it was.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
It was in the trailer shown all around the world.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
It was released worldwide.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
It was just like and now like I'll be in
I'll be in another country and it will come on
and it just guilty this day for me out because
you know, as an Australian artist, you're like you like
you're kind of combined to Australia and it's different to
being in the UK because I know the song got
released there, but like, I don't know, it's really surreal
and it's just it's really cool and that song has
(07:14):
had such an incredible life and I'm you know, I'm
just I'm.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Really proud of it too.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Like it's like I've got a little, yeah, a little
kid out there that's kicking goals and achieving things and
he's like the captain the Fall Team.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Like it's really it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah. I mean, we're here to talk about Idle. And
the weirdest thing about all of this is that you
have turned out to be one of the most successful
alumnis from this program and you have one of the
most iconic Australian TV moments when you were eliminated I
think you were it was like eighth or something in
that competition when you should have won. I wanted to
(07:50):
know from you personally, do you reckon that if you'd
made it all the way and won that series, you'd
be where you are today. I would say, from an
outsider's point of view looking in, I think you've worked
harder and that moment made you in a way.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
I absolutely agree.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
I don't think if I had one, like, I think
it could have gone two ways. Sure, if I won
and you know, got signed to the record label that
you get signed to and had the you know, kind
of a path lay it out for you, maybe maybe
I would have. Maybe things would have been bigger and
better and more successful.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Maybe I would have had.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
More hit songs.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Maybe things would have been different, but they also maybe
maybe they wouldn't have. And I feel like my success
I feel like I can really own because I signed
to an independent label. Like I said no to the
big Sony record deal when I first came off the
show because they offered me a single.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Deal rather than an album, and I.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Didn't feel like that was committing I just thought, oh,
do you really Is this just that I'm just going
to throw this at the wall and see if it sticks,
and if it does, will then sign you. But that
to me doesn't feel like you truly believe in me.
I also was kind of got the sense that the
other record labels that I was talking to that were
majors kind of wanted to put me in a box
(09:05):
and tell me who I was going to.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Be whereas I was. And I'm proud that as an
eighteen year old.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
I made the decision and said no to that because
I think the most important decision of my entire career,
and that was something that I had to you know,
I had to make that choice at eighteen or nineteen,
and I think it's incredibly intuitive that I knew that
I need to carve out my own path, and so
I ended up signing with an independent record label, which
(09:31):
to start with, makes everything harder because they don't have,
you know, the million dollar budgets that every other, you know,
major record label has. But it just means you have
to be more resourceful, and you have to be more clever,
and you have to work smarter, and you have to
work harder. It's why I feel like I can really
own my successes because I had to work really hard
(09:51):
for all of those and they weren't served to me
on a silver plutter. We had to work for every
chart position that we got, every radio play. I think
there was a lot of goodwill out there for me
after I was eliminated from the show. People just wanted
to back me, and you know, I feel like people
feeling guilty that I got voted out definitely worked in
(10:11):
my favor for a.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
While I heard producers refer to that when a person
gets eliminated from reality show. I've been on the set
of some of these shows when it's happened, and I'll
be like, oh my god, I can't believe that person
went home, and they're like, don't worry about it. It's
the rickyarly cool to a moment of the season, like
and you know, like to be known as a phrase
like that is also kind of cool, do you know
(10:34):
what I mean? Like, I think, yeah, that's a most
everyone can refer to and immediately know what you're talking about.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Yeah, it's pretty wild, it really is.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I love that things don't happen in a straight line,
and I love looking back at the stuff when I
was probably not where I thought I would be. And
I remember I went to the opening of The Lion
King and you sat next to me with some guy
from Neighbors at the time. I know you were very
good friends with him. Oh my god, dad, yes, escapes me.
Two of you brought with you some either it was
tiny teddies or shapes that you brought along to eat
(11:05):
while you watched the line there bringing the line inking,
and I remember thinking, HOLLI fuck I'm sitting next to Ricula,
called her, I'm obsessed with her. And then when I
watched you eat those packet of chips, I was like,
these are the moments that I just think, you know,
look where you have come and you kind of never forget.
I think for you, you've never really forgotten who you are.
So go ricularly cool to and eat your tiny teddies
(11:27):
or your shapes or whatever they wear at the Lion King.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Oh my god, I still put I still put, like,
you know, champagne in my drink bottle. And then when
I'm going somewhere on it on a long triper, I
put like snacks in my bag, like those things.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I feel like I just I.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Saw people that I knew well, and I saw so
many people in the industry changed when they quote unquote.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Made it, and I just thought it was so such an.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
Ugly trait, like you are who you are. There's nowhere
that says that when you become successful you need to
be a dick to everyone.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Yeah, Like I just.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Think it that they do, and people do forget where
they come from, and they think that their God's gift
to music, it's entertainment and they're the greatest thing that
ever happened, and I just think that kind of self important.
I don't know, maybe just the way that I grew
up just doesn't allow for that.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
You know, I.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Watched my parents, you know, we had nothing when I
was growing up, Like I was scrounging around and putting
five different pieces together so I could buy hopefully a
pie at school when I got there, or like it
just to I watched my parents work their asses off
and try things and create a business and make something
that was successful. And that kind of work ethic has
(12:43):
always stuck with me. Like I'm driven and ambitious and
hard working. I always want to be the hardest working
person in the room. And I just don't think that
kind of a work ethic and drive allows you to
become a douchebag, because you can always be better, you
can always have done better, you can always work harder,
There's always.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
More to do.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
And I think when people feel like they've kind of
reached the peak, it just doesn't sit well with me,
and it's just never been Maybe it's just yeah, I
wasn't raised that way.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Congratulations though, on the success of the Riculae. Tim and
Joel show what a joy to partner that up though
with Australian Idol, and I think that keeps you busy
enough to avoid all of those celebrity daggy reality shows
that you'd be asked to do every year, because you're like, no, mate,
I'm busy. I'm a recording artist, to have a number
one radio show, and I'm also on one of the
(13:31):
most iconic Australian TV shows of all time.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I certainly have had, you know, all the all of
them approach, and there's too many other things happening and
it's just not really, it's not really my jam. I
like sitting at home in my track is watching those shows.
I don't want to be on one of them, you
know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Though, You'll be so busy till you're like fifty and
you'll be like one of those you know where there's
Nicky Buckley, she's on I'm a celebrity at the moment,
but she's like, that's when you'll be on.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Oh my god, she's amazing.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Think she's so beautiful.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
No, I'm going to be like retired and living in
like Homa or something like I'm working really hard, Like
I will just disappear off the face of the earth
and people will.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Be like, what happened to that girl? That was like
always in our face?
Speaker 4 (14:11):
I will be gone and you'll never hear from ging
ever again.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
This is your third season though of hosting the show,
And do you know what I've been to watch you
live recording the live episodes.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
For oh really?
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Yeah? Yeah, I've been there and watched you and Scott
Tweety in full action. What I find amazing about you
is how you've brought so much of who you are
as a personality to your presenting. Because I was thinking
you could almost impersonate Osha or James and or you
could almost watch other presenters and steal things from them.
(14:43):
But I always see you in your teleprompting, in your
live moments, which are very stressful. I've done those before.
You still are yourself. I don't know how do you
do you meditate backstage to do that? Like, how do
you consciously still try and be yourself without sort of
impersonating being a presenter.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
I don't think I can't pretend I'm really like, I
feel like I just always am authentic and genuine and
what I'm thinking feeling you can I like, if I
if I think something you can see it on my face.
There's not like I can't hide it. I'm not an actress.
I cannot hide it. I can't pretend.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
So I'm kind of.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
One of those. With your radio show as well, I
can I can see what you're thinking audibly. That's so random.
I've heard Joel and talk to you on that show
and ask you a question, and your pauses and your
delivery always allows the audience to know what the clogs
are doing inside kul.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
But like, that's that's who I am, right, And I
think anything I do, I always bring that to who
I am, to bring that to what I'm doing. And
like when I was asked to host the Third Thing,
I was asked to host AGT. Yeah, and my host,
I mean, I've.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Never I can't. I'm not a host. I don't know
how to I can't host. I can judge.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
I've got opinions, so I could be a judge. And
they were like no, the people that asked me to
host AGT were people that worked on Australian Idol back
when I was on it. So the executive producers of
AGT worked on Australian Idol back when I was on it,
and they said, we know you, We know you so well,
and we know you more than an Australia and people
(16:22):
know you, and there is you are the only person
that can do this role because you're silly, you're daggy.
You know, your sense of humor is perfect for this.
You can be glamorous, you can put on the dresses,
but you're also a bit of a dag you can
have a laugh, you don't take yourself too seriously.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
This is the perfect role. You have to do this.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
We're not taking over an answer, And I was like, well,
how big the check night for Skinny No No, And
I just I just never thought that I would be
able to do it because I don't know how to
host the TV show. I don't know how to read
a Telly prompt. I can read, but I don't know
how to host. I don't know how to listen in
my ears to the director and take ques and do
all of this was like my training ground basically, but
(17:02):
I went head first into hoping one of the biggest
TV shows on Australian TV. It was so stressful and
the only thing that I could do that was company
was just be myself. And the whole way they just said,
just be yourself.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
That's enough.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Don't try and be something else, just be yourself. And
then from that then Australian Idol came back around and
they said, Ricky, you have to host this and I
can't follow Osher and James like they're the greatest.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
They are, They're the.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Best in the business. Osha is incredible and I don't
think I'll.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Ever be able to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
That's what I think is incredible, because I mean just
I got asked to host Australia's Got Talent the year
that Channel nine did it, and I went in and
did a screen test for it. Julia Morris ended up
getting that series. But I know how hard it is
to be in that role, and I think I lost
it because of going home and watching other presenters instead
of deep, digging deep and doing the work bringing who
(17:54):
I am out of into the role. Do you know
what I mean?
Speaker 4 (17:56):
You just have to be genuine. I think that's the thing.
You have to be curious. Questions that you want to ask,
they're the questions that you should be asking.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
That's just what I've learned.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
And in all of those moments when we're live and
it's stressful and something's going on, I just go back
do You just have to follow your own instincts. And
like even when with the with the script, like we
have meetings with our writers and we make sure that
the wording isn't just what.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
The writer has written for me.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
It has to have my language and the way that
I would say things. And we change things and we
cross things out and we rewrite things, and then it
goes in the prompter and it's written even in the
prompter the.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Way that I would speak.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
So it's just that's really the that's all I've done,
and I still feel like I don't know how to
do it.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
I still feel like a fraud. I feel like an
impost in a dress with.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
All the weave clipped in and the eyelasses.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
But it's really fun. It's great to.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Be part of the show, and you know, the show
that changed my life. It's amazing to be a part
of it and to be on the stage and kind
of running the ship, running the show. It's kind of
it's kind of crazy when you think about it. I
was eliminated, you know, so shockingly, and now I'm back
running the show.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Basically, it's kind of it's kind of fun.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I think the biggest take home from chatting with you
today is about how curiosity is the pathway to authenticity.
And I think that if you are genuinely curious as
a person about who you're talking to and what they're saying,
that comes across that makes people go off. I'm listening
to a conversation that feels real, and I'm with you.
(19:26):
I'm there with you. I want to know the answers
to the questions that you're asking.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
And I think I think as well as like, because
I've been through I've been through the process, I have
also even even on top of that, a unique perspective.
I'm coming at it from a place where I've walked
in their shoes, Like I'm deeply empathetic and compassionate about
how everyone is feeling it all time because I have
felt those things. I've felt terrified about this thing that
(19:53):
I've been dreaming of, and I've built up in my
mind that this is going to be the moment, this
is going to be the thing that changes my life
and and is the thing this is. After this, I'm
going to be selling out arenas and I'm going to
be doing all the things and moving out the dreams
that I've been dreaming since.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
I was a kid.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
I understand how deeply everyone is feeling that. I understand
the nerves they're going through, the doubt that's in their mind,
how much they're doubting every and questioning every single thing
they're doing. So I try and bring that knowledge and
that experience to it and just kind of provide them
they know that, you know, I'm not trying to like
(20:28):
ever have a gotcha moment.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
I'm not trying to trick you.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
I'm only ever here to try and support you and
give you the best opportunity to shine. And I think
everybody knows that when we're doing the show, and I
think that's why. It's also when you get the best
out of people. Like if you just ask a cold
question to someone that's kind of jarring, you're not going
to get a lovely response, a great, world rounded response.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
You're going to get like a weird, nervous.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Anxious, strange answer where they're trying to figure something out.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
But you can do this job in a.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Really lovely, compassionate way and get the best and the
most out of everyone.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
But I think it's understanding the fabric of a show.
You know what I mean, And I think, yeah, we
are a part of that. You get it, Like you've
seen all that you've lived through, seeing all the different
judges that have been on this show, do you know
what I mean? Like you've stood in front of the ogs,
you know, with dick O and Mark and Marsha back
in the day. You've stood in front of the judges
that have come internationally when we rebooted the show here
(21:26):
in Australia three years ago, and then here you are
with these three judges who are by the way, the
chemistry between these three judges this time round, it's just on.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah, Marsha's keeping Kyle and Line right in a way
that anyone that's ever been scared of Kyle. I'm not
scared of Kyle. I've worked with him so many times
and I love him. He's such a generous, kind person.
I love him, Yes, totally. So bizarre when people say
to me, oh, I think this of Kyle, but she keeps.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Him in, I know it's because you don't know him.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
I'm like, I've not worked with this person. I was like,
this person rang Meat after doing three years of breakfast
radio and said, are you still doing breakfast radio in
central Queensland. I said, yeah, he goes, oh, well, you
might as well be the janitor, because if they haven't
picked you up and put you somewhere else by now,
you just might as well clean the toilets. And people
might see that as like a nasty thing. But he
was absolutely not correct. Who picks up Who at Kyle's
(22:14):
level would have that conversation with me? You know what,
I mean, to even be bothered to pick up the
phone and have that call, But that's to me wild,
you know, and that's kind.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
No, he's a wonderful and you know, everyone has their
opinions about everyone, right, but he's a wonderful. He's a
wonderful person, and he's really supportive and he really he
really backs people and gets behind you and anything you need,
I'm here. He really is really generous and helpful and
thoughtful and goes out of his way to you know,
check on people and make sure you're okay.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
And he's done the same with me. He's awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
It's amazing, he really is.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
It is nice seeing though, like you know, Marsha is
like you know, she's a queen, like she's quean Marsha.
So there's just this respects that is there, and everybody
respects each other.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Kyle respects Marsha, and Marsha respects Kyle.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
There's just love and.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
Respect there between everyone. And even for me, I've known
Marsha since I was on the show twenty one years ago.
Now I've known Kyle for that.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Long as well.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
I've been friends with Amy since we were in school,
really good friends of Amy since we're in school. So
it's like, not only is there just this, there is
beautiful chemistry because we're all friends.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Same with Scott.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
It's just like there's love, respect, friendship, and we all
want the best for everyone who's walking on that stage.
And I think that breeds a really amazing environment on
set offset behind the scenes, the whole crew. There's still
crew that works on the show that was on the
when I was on the show, Like it's just everybody. Yes,
(23:43):
we're there to make a great TV show with great
moments and a drama with all of that stuff, And
that naturally.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Happens when you provide a safe.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
And loving and encouraging environment for people to try their
best and go out in a limb and give it
a shit and that's what we all do. And I
think that's why this show is so great, because people
are loving that there's a lot of love in the room,
but you know, there's also a lot of drama that
just naturally happens. I think that's what makes it such
a great family show. It's not nasty, it's not coming
(24:15):
from a bad place where you know, there's weird edits
and things happening. It's just a genuine not a love fest.
But there's just a lot there and it's great for
the whole family.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
I watched a preview episode with my best friend and
her daughter was with us. Yeah, And it was so
bizarre because my best friend and I lived together in
the two thousands when Idle was first on TV. We
watched it when we were twenty two together and here
we are in our forties watching it with her daughter,
who is then enjoying the show in the same way
that we did. And I was like, this is so good, Like,
(24:50):
this is so good to be able to show that
this vehicle of Australian idol has been something in our
life for so long that has made so many people's
dreams actually come true. Yeah, show children to work hard
and to believe in yourself. Like there's a lot in
there's a lot in this show. That's what makes television
(25:11):
so good.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Oh, there's a.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
Lot of lessons in there, like when you go through
like you know, you go through auditions, and sometimes people
really have to fight for their for their spot. They
have to really convince the judges because maybe they've got
to sing another song, maybe they didn't quite hit them up,
maybe there's something.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
That they can see they're not quite sure.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
Then you get to top thirty and sometimes people fall
apart and it's like sometimes people don't bother learning the words,
and there are lessons in there.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Do you want this?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Why are you not learning the freaking words?
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Like, it's just there's so many little things and I
think it's why there you.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
Know, we have such a broad audience.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
You've got little kids watching it, You've got people in
the early teenagers and early twenties, and then you've got
the moms, and you've got the grandmas, and you've got
auntie and uncle, and you've got everyone across the board
watching this show because it really is for everyone, and
everybody loves sitting back in their chair and judging and
saying whether they do or don't like someone, or they
think that person should have got through or they shouldn't,
(26:01):
or that was a terrible performance there last.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Week was better.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
People are filled with opinions and love that, and I
think that's what this show stirs, which is it's really
fun and it's fun to watch who people fall in
love with. Like out of those first few episodes, you
watched who jumped.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Out at you?
Speaker 1 (26:17):
And I'm so obsessed with the first girl that walked out.
I think her name was Eilish. I'm from the Alanis
Morissette generation, so I yeah, is in my DNA. And
when she came out and her accent was so rough
and so.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Wrong, I don't get that.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
I'm kilken.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
I didn't even know what she was saying. I didn't either,
But then she and she was super.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Quiet, like when I.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
Saw it, she's super quiet, and then she's got this
really rough accent and You're like, what is this girl going.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
To do something amazing? And that's where you've got your
Susan Boyle moment where people go there's this washer woman
and then Susan Boyle bounced out with like, you know,
echoed a song that is still being you know, remembered
as a TV moment for years, and that Eilish moment
to me was something like that where you can't judge
a book by its cover, you know, you can't judge
(27:06):
someone by their accent. Dummy him is a good example
of that as well. These beautiful voices, these incredible TV
moments are created by people that are the underdogs and
they're the everyday Australians.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
I think that's so cool.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Yeah, John, Yeah, I thought I was worried he wasnt
going to get through and I was like, oh my gosh,
you know, like you stuff.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
He's like the nicest person on earth.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Yeah, yes, story with the trampoline.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
For me, Marcell Hamburger was I'm obsessed with him. First
of all, Hamburger is the last name, not last name.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
I'm a fan.
Speaker 4 (27:39):
Instantly, but just like, I mean again, like he's just
this awkward.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Yeah, you know, you're on edge.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
The whole time you're watching him until he sings, and
it's just magical. And I think that's what the great
thing about this show is is just the surprises, and
it's always unexpected.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Someone walks in the room, you think.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
You know what's going to happen, and you don't, and
then that still happens. Even when the live shows and
you know, these people are great thingers, still things happen,
and it's just I don't know, it's so exciting.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
I love this show so much.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Before I let you go, I ask everyone the same question.
So I've been doing this for a while, but what
is something from behind the scenes of Idol? Something that
is kind of a behind the scenes secret? And I
kind of thought of something that I wanted to ask you,
is that do people ask you about which judge you
would like to see return to the show, like whether
it's Harry Connick Junior or Mark Holden or is there
(28:32):
a judge though that because you are one of the
only people who have been in front of all of
these people, so you have a POV that's different to
what even the viewer has.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Oh that's a really it is a really interesting question.
I think it's great having with our judges. Everyone has
their own perspective, right And Kyle has been a part
of supporting and making and breaking artists for his whole career.
He certainly has been a huge supporter of mine and
so many other Australian artists throughout the years. He's really amazing,
(29:01):
an amazing person to having your corner. Marster is just
a queen, Like we say this, you know, really full
stop queen martyr.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Amy's incredible.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
She's worked so hard, She's got an interesting perspective.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
I think I'm really out of the judges that I've
seen and worked with. I mean, I had a really
great friendship with Dicko and I really respect like he was,
you know, a lot of the time touted the mean judge,
but it's not really that mean. When you think of
the things that are said in boardrooms when you're actually
(29:32):
an artist and in the industry and how cut throat
it is and how black and white things are.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
There is no you know, blurry middle ground.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
It either is this or it's not, or you don't know,
and you figure it out and you know really quickly
if it is or isn't a hit or good or
going to work or whatever. And I kind of I
did love his honesty and Canada like. I think he
was just very sharpshooter, straight suitor, be as it was,
because that's what the industry is like, and Kyle does
that as well.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
This industry, it is.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Savage, is brutal, and it's savage, and I think if
you have to have a thick skin to be able
to survive in this industry, and like, there are things
that have been said.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Of course, you know that people don't like.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
About the way someone looks or that weighs, the way
someone is dressed. But if you look at any of
the comments on social media, people at home are saying
those exact things. Or when you go out on TV
in an outfit that's maybe not flattering or you, or
people just didn't like the way you sing.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
Sometimes people just don't like your space and they.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Just don't like you, and they will go and find
a place to tell you that.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
I think it's funny.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
When people get outraged by some of the you know,
they say nasty things that are said, but that's those
are just honest a lot of the time constructive things
that are being said to you that you can improve on.
And I mean, yeah, all you have to do is
have a look in the comments on Facebook or Instagram
or TikTok or anywhere, and you know, on news articles
to see how nasty people at home can be. So
(31:03):
you know, if you can't hear it from someone you respect,
that is in the industry, you're going to really struggle
to make it through with all of the noise and
all of the people's opinions out there in the world.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
So I think Diggo as well was really iconic for
that time as well, because you know, he himself could
have walked on stage and tried to be palatable or
tried to make the audience love him or whatever, and
he was like, absolutely not. I'm going to put my face,
my name to these comments and help these young people
(31:35):
be prepared for an industry that is brutal. So it
starts here totally.
Speaker 4 (31:39):
And Kyle does the same thing, and he cops a
lot of flack for saying things that everyone is thinking,
oh my god, why does he have to say something
so mean, but that he's actually it's really ballsy to
look someone in the ir national TV and know that
people are going to think that it's horrible what you're saying,
but say it for the greater good of telling the
person what they need to hear. And I think I'm
(32:03):
the kind of person that appreciates that.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I'm always the.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Person that's like, just tell me exactly, Like tell me,
I don't want you to mince your word.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Just tell me exactly that some people are.
Speaker 4 (32:14):
A bit less confident, and they're a bit softer, and
they're not so strong and so resilient. So it is
harder for some people to take. But unfortunately that is
the reality of our business, is that you know, there
are hard conversations that you have to have all the time.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
I'm married to my manager.
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Can you imagine what those conversations are like sometimes.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Well, I've been rolling on a river with you for
so crowd marry red by lund room and my two
best girlfriends say to me, that's regularly cool to dance
moves right there. And I am obsessed with you. I've
been in your audience for so long. I have seen
you live, I've seen you shape shift over the many years,
(32:55):
and I am in your audience and I think you
do such a fantastic job. And thank you for being
so generous with your time and talking to me today.
It has actually made my week.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Of course, anytime love chatting with you.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
It's been a real pleasure. Thank you for having me. Bye,
god see you later.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Thanks
It's in the news today, but it was actually on
TV Reload, the podcast last week that life. Hey guys,
welcome back to TV Reload. I want to thank you
for clicking and downloading on today's episode with Ricky Lee Coolter,
one of the most successful alumnis from Australian Idol and
she is back this year hosting the reboot on Channel seven.
I have spent so much time with Ricky Lee over
(00:21):
the years. I don't even think she remembers how many
times I've been in the room with her. I couldn't
say that we are close friends, but I could say
that in fact, I'm a part of the fandom of
the Ricky Lee Coulter fan club because I think she
is talented, I think she's determined, and I am so
impressed with how she has been able to shape her career.
Australian Idol is back this week and the voices I'm
(00:44):
going to tell you from previewing a couple of episodes
are bigger and better than ever. The age restrictions have
changed and that's actually really exciting to see how the
show has evolved over time. Ricky Lee will unpack that
song from Sex and the City that put her on
the map international. We will chat about her relationship with
the judges and why Kyle Sandalans and former judge Ian
(01:06):
Dixon have her respect. I find out about her thoughts
on some of the artists this year and why she
relates to the pressure that they are under. You will
get everything from some amazing insights into how her career
has had some tough choices, what it takes to be
a TV presenter, and how over two decades she has
stayed grounded. There is so much to talk about, with
(01:29):
so many inside revelations, So guys sit back and relax
as we unpack the wonderful world of Australian Idol, which
launches this week on Channel seven and seven plus.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Hello, Hi, how are you?
Speaker 1 (01:43):
I'm very excited? Do you know what I just did?
I just while I was waiting watched at one of
your concerts. I was in the front row and you
came down, grabbed gave me the microphone and I sung
a line of Michael Jackson and I've got it on video.
So I just rewatched it. I love it.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Where was that?
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Oh? It's a Crown casino. Years ago for one of
the might have been like the Royal Children's Hospital. I'm
not sure it was a charity. Yeah, but you know,
my partner was like, you're always staring at the singer
like you want to do it, and he goes, I
reckon that recently just saw you and was like, that
guy's desperate. I'm gonna have to give him the microphone.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Oh. I mean, I love handing the microphone out and
getting people to sing. It's one of my favorite things
to do.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Well, this is super exciting to chat with you today.
And when I was writing out what I was going
to ask you, I wrote a book so if you
ever need something to help you with an unauthorized biography.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I was doing.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
I was doing like like sometimes people will like email
question like you know Q and A.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
And I have to restrain.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Myself because I start it's like I'm telling my last
story and it's like I'm writing a book when I
do these things, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Like, Ricky, I have to tell myself, no one.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Cares they do about like your deep the darkest like
feelings and thoughts and emotions, just like give a funny
little quick answer and get the hell out of it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I'm not weirder because I I think of questions that
I would ask you all the time, and when I
thought about it, I've put this question right in at
the start because I've always wanted to talk to you
about it. But one of my favorite songs is you
Can't Touch It, and I wanted to know forever how
the hell did that end up on the Sex and
the City trailer and soundtrack. That must have been such
an unusual thing to have happened. You must have been elated.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
I mean I was dying when I the way that
it all happened because I wrote the song.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Yeah, we wrote the song in two thousand and seven.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
So when you're a songwriter, if somebody wants to use
your song in a movie or in a TV commercial
or something like that, they have to seek permission.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
From the songwriter. Yeah, so we got a request through.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
And this is like, you know, three or four years
after the song came out, we got a request through
from from Warner Brothers, asking can we think this song
in a movie? They didn't say what the movie was,
and then they specify all of the different usages.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
That it'll be to be like in.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
The film in the trailer, on the set track, and
they tell you the parts of the song, the duration
of the song that will be used, and blah blah blah,
and then they give you to see and you basically
just have to.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Agree or not agree to it.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
And I honestly feel like, because things like this happened,
there's another thing that happened and it's kind of similar.
I feel like it was like an Australian gay that
that were with working at Warner Brothers US or something,
and I was like, I can love this song, and
they put forward my song somehow. I just can't imagine
(04:32):
how my song came across the desk of someone one
of the big wigs at Warner Brothers in the US, Like,
I just don't other than it being an Australian gay
that's like, hey, babe, do you want to hear this
amazing song I heard? And I truly think that that's
how it happened. So shit, So then I so I
approved the I approved the sink and literally it was
(04:52):
days I think it was like three or four days later.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I came home in the afternoon.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Remember what did you ever watch a news is like
Juliana around sick and Ryan Secret of course, so I
sit on accounts and I've popped on the E News
and I'm watching Juliana and Ryan and they throw to this,
like this big thing we've got the new the brand
new trailer, the first look at the new Sex and
the City movie, and they throw to it and it
starts out with like empire state of mind, New York
(05:20):
concrete jungle where dreams are made of and you're seeing
all of the girls and you're seeing that they're here,
there and everywhere, and then all of a sudden, it
just go it drops, and it goes dud dude, dude,
and the drums for Can't Touch It start. I almost
ship myself. I jumped up, I was screaming, I was
running around the house. It was just the most I
(05:43):
wrote that song. I wrote Can't Touch It in New
York the first time I ever went there, about going
out with my girlfriend who was with me, and like
guys trying to hit on us, and then it ends
up in the movie that is the quintessential show about
New York and the girls and.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Going out and finding love.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
It was just meant it couldn't be more perfect.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I remember dancing to it in like a gay nightclub
and it was like wild, like everyone was dancing to it,
and I remember feeling so proud of you. I had
the goosies then and I've got the goosies now just
even talking to you about that story.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
Oh, it's such a crazy it's such a crazy story.
And I still can't believe that it happened. And it's
like like the song because I we'd released it in
Australia and it was it got to like number two
on the charts. It was this huge song here in Australia,
and it also got released in the UK and was
like number two on the charts over there as well.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
We were number one on the dance chart.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
And it was just like, so it had had its life,
I thought, and I thought, you know, that was that
was it. But then it got released internationally, you know,
by a Sex in the City.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Basically it was.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
It was in the trailer shown all around the world.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
It was released worldwide.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
It was just like and now like I'll be in
I'll be in another country and it will come on
and it just guilty this day for me out because
you know, as an Australian artist, you're like you like
you're kind of combined to Australia and it's different to
being in the UK because I know the song got
released there, but like, I don't know, it's really surreal
and it's just it's really cool and that song has
(07:14):
had such an incredible life and I'm you know, I'm
just I'm.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Really proud of it too.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Like it's like I've got a little, yeah, a little
kid out there that's kicking goals and achieving things and
he's like the captain the Fall Team.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Like it's really it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah. I mean, we're here to talk about Idle. And
the weirdest thing about all of this is that you
have turned out to be one of the most successful
alumnis from this program and you have one of the
most iconic Australian TV moments when you were eliminated I
think you were it was like eighth or something in
that competition when you should have won. I wanted to
(07:50):
know from you personally, do you reckon that if you'd
made it all the way and won that series, you'd
be where you are today. I would say, from an
outsider's point of view looking in, I think you've worked
harder and that moment made you in a way.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
I absolutely agree.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
I don't think if I had one, like, I think
it could have gone two ways. Sure, if I won
and you know, got signed to the record label that
you get signed to and had the you know, kind
of a path lay it out for you, maybe maybe
I would have. Maybe things would have been bigger and
better and more successful.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Maybe I would have had.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
More hit songs.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Maybe things would have been different, but they also maybe
maybe they wouldn't have. And I feel like my success
I feel like I can really own because I signed
to an independent label. Like I said no to the
big Sony record deal when I first came off the
show because they offered me a single.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Deal rather than an album, and I.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Didn't feel like that was committing I just thought, oh,
do you really Is this just that I'm just going
to throw this at the wall and see if it sticks,
and if it does, will then sign you. But that
to me doesn't feel like you truly believe in me.
I also was kind of got the sense that the
other record labels that I was talking to that were
majors kind of wanted to put me in a box
(09:05):
and tell me who I was going to.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Be whereas I was. And I'm proud that as an
eighteen year old.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
I made the decision and said no to that because
I think the most important decision of my entire career,
and that was something that I had to you know,
I had to make that choice at eighteen or nineteen,
and I think it's incredibly intuitive that I knew that
I need to carve out my own path, and so
I ended up signing with an independent record label, which
(09:31):
to start with, makes everything harder because they don't have,
you know, the million dollar budgets that every other, you know,
major record label has. But it just means you have
to be more resourceful, and you have to be more clever,
and you have to work smarter, and you have to
work harder. It's why I feel like I can really
own my successes because I had to work really hard
(09:51):
for all of those and they weren't served to me
on a silver plutter. We had to work for every
chart position that we got, every radio play. I think
there was a lot of goodwill out there for me
after I was eliminated from the show. People just wanted
to back me, and you know, I feel like people
feeling guilty that I got voted out definitely worked in
(10:11):
my favor for a.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
While I heard producers refer to that when a person
gets eliminated from reality show. I've been on the set
of some of these shows when it's happened, and I'll
be like, oh my god, I can't believe that person
went home, and they're like, don't worry about it. It's
the rickyarly cool to a moment of the season, like
and you know, like to be known as a phrase
like that is also kind of cool, do you know
(10:34):
what I mean? Like, I think, yeah, that's a most
everyone can refer to and immediately know what you're talking about.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Yeah, it's pretty wild, it really is.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I love that things don't happen in a straight line,
and I love looking back at the stuff when I
was probably not where I thought I would be. And
I remember I went to the opening of The Lion
King and you sat next to me with some guy
from Neighbors at the time. I know you were very
good friends with him. Oh my god, dad, yes, escapes me.
Two of you brought with you some either it was
tiny teddies or shapes that you brought along to eat
(11:05):
while you watched the line there bringing the line inking,
and I remember thinking, HOLLI fuck I'm sitting next to Ricula,
called her, I'm obsessed with her. And then when I
watched you eat those packet of chips, I was like,
these are the moments that I just think, you know,
look where you have come and you kind of never forget.
I think for you, you've never really forgotten who you are.
So go ricularly cool to and eat your tiny teddies
(11:27):
or your shapes or whatever they wear at the Lion King.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Oh my god, I still put I still put, like,
you know, champagne in my drink bottle. And then when
I'm going somewhere on it on a long triper, I
put like snacks in my bag, like those things.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I feel like I just I.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Saw people that I knew well, and I saw so
many people in the industry changed when they quote unquote.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Made it, and I just thought it was so such an.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
Ugly trait, like you are who you are. There's nowhere
that says that when you become successful you need to
be a dick to everyone.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Yeah, Like I just.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Think it that they do, and people do forget where
they come from, and they think that their God's gift
to music, it's entertainment and they're the greatest thing that
ever happened, and I just think that kind of self important.
I don't know, maybe just the way that I grew
up just doesn't allow for that.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
You know, I.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Watched my parents, you know, we had nothing when I
was growing up, Like I was scrounging around and putting
five different pieces together so I could buy hopefully a
pie at school when I got there, or like it
just to I watched my parents work their asses off
and try things and create a business and make something
that was successful. And that kind of work ethic has
(12:43):
always stuck with me. Like I'm driven and ambitious and
hard working. I always want to be the hardest working
person in the room. And I just don't think that
kind of a work ethic and drive allows you to
become a douchebag, because you can always be better, you
can always have done better, you can always work harder,
There's always.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
More to do.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
And I think when people feel like they've kind of
reached the peak, it just doesn't sit well with me,
and it's just never been Maybe it's just yeah, I
wasn't raised that way.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Congratulations though, on the success of the Riculae. Tim and
Joel show what a joy to partner that up though
with Australian Idol, and I think that keeps you busy
enough to avoid all of those celebrity daggy reality shows
that you'd be asked to do every year, because you're like, no, mate,
I'm busy. I'm a recording artist, to have a number
one radio show, and I'm also on one of the
(13:31):
most iconic Australian TV shows of all time.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I certainly have had, you know, all the all of
them approach, and there's too many other things happening and
it's just not really, it's not really my jam. I
like sitting at home in my track is watching those shows.
I don't want to be on one of them, you
know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Though, You'll be so busy till you're like fifty and
you'll be like one of those you know where there's
Nicky Buckley, she's on I'm a celebrity at the moment,
but she's like, that's when you'll be on.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Oh my god, she's amazing.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Think she's so beautiful.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
No, I'm going to be like retired and living in
like Homa or something like I'm working really hard, Like
I will just disappear off the face of the earth
and people will.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Be like, what happened to that girl? That was like
always in our face?
Speaker 4 (14:11):
I will be gone and you'll never hear from ging
ever again.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
This is your third season though of hosting the show,
And do you know what I've been to watch you
live recording the live episodes.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
For oh really?
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Yeah? Yeah, I've been there and watched you and Scott
Tweety in full action. What I find amazing about you
is how you've brought so much of who you are
as a personality to your presenting. Because I was thinking
you could almost impersonate Osha or James and or you
could almost watch other presenters and steal things from them.
(14:43):
But I always see you in your teleprompting, in your
live moments, which are very stressful. I've done those before.
You still are yourself. I don't know how do you
do you meditate backstage to do that? Like, how do
you consciously still try and be yourself without sort of
impersonating being a presenter.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
I don't think I can't pretend I'm really like, I
feel like I just always am authentic and genuine and
what I'm thinking feeling you can I like, if I
if I think something you can see it on my face.
There's not like I can't hide it. I'm not an actress.
I cannot hide it. I can't pretend.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
So I'm kind of.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
One of those. With your radio show as well, I
can I can see what you're thinking audibly. That's so random.
I've heard Joel and talk to you on that show
and ask you a question, and your pauses and your
delivery always allows the audience to know what the clogs
are doing inside kul.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
But like, that's that's who I am, right, And I
think anything I do, I always bring that to who
I am, to bring that to what I'm doing. And
like when I was asked to host the Third Thing,
I was asked to host AGT. Yeah, and my host,
I mean, I've.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Never I can't. I'm not a host. I don't know
how to I can't host. I can judge.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
I've got opinions, so I could be a judge. And
they were like no, the people that asked me to
host AGT were people that worked on Australian Idol back
when I was on it. So the executive producers of
AGT worked on Australian Idol back when I was on it,
and they said, we know you, We know you so well,
and we know you more than an Australia and people
(16:22):
know you, and there is you are the only person
that can do this role because you're silly, you're daggy.
You know, your sense of humor is perfect for this.
You can be glamorous, you can put on the dresses,
but you're also a bit of a dag you can
have a laugh, you don't take yourself too seriously.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
This is the perfect role. You have to do this.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
We're not taking over an answer, And I was like, well,
how big the check night for Skinny No No, And
I just I just never thought that I would be
able to do it because I don't know how to
host the TV show. I don't know how to read
a Telly prompt. I can read, but I don't know
how to host. I don't know how to listen in
my ears to the director and take ques and do
all of this was like my training ground basically, but
(17:02):
I went head first into hoping one of the biggest
TV shows on Australian TV. It was so stressful and
the only thing that I could do that was company
was just be myself. And the whole way they just said,
just be yourself.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
That's enough.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Don't try and be something else, just be yourself. And
then from that then Australian Idol came back around and
they said, Ricky, you have to host this and I
can't follow Osher and James like they're the greatest.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
They are, They're the.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Best in the business. Osha is incredible and I don't
think I'll.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Ever be able to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
That's what I think is incredible, because I mean just
I got asked to host Australia's Got Talent the year
that Channel nine did it, and I went in and
did a screen test for it. Julia Morris ended up
getting that series. But I know how hard it is
to be in that role, and I think I lost
it because of going home and watching other presenters instead
of deep, digging deep and doing the work bringing who
(17:54):
I am out of into the role. Do you know
what I mean?
Speaker 4 (17:56):
You just have to be genuine. I think that's the thing.
You have to be curious. Questions that you want to ask,
they're the questions that you should be asking.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
That's just what I've learned.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
And in all of those moments when we're live and
it's stressful and something's going on, I just go back
do You just have to follow your own instincts. And
like even when with the with the script, like we
have meetings with our writers and we make sure that
the wording isn't just what.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
The writer has written for me.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
It has to have my language and the way that
I would say things. And we change things and we
cross things out and we rewrite things, and then it
goes in the prompter and it's written even in the
prompter the.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Way that I would speak.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
So it's just that's really the that's all I've done,
and I still feel like I don't know how to
do it.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
I still feel like a fraud. I feel like an
impost in a dress with.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
All the weave clipped in and the eyelasses.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
But it's really fun. It's great to.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Be part of the show, and you know, the show
that changed my life. It's amazing to be a part
of it and to be on the stage and kind
of running the ship, running the show. It's kind of
it's kind of crazy when you think about it. I
was eliminated, you know, so shockingly, and now I'm back
running the show.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Basically, it's kind of it's kind of fun.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I think the biggest take home from chatting with you
today is about how curiosity is the pathway to authenticity.
And I think that if you are genuinely curious as
a person about who you're talking to and what they're saying,
that comes across that makes people go off. I'm listening
to a conversation that feels real, and I'm with you.
(19:26):
I'm there with you. I want to know the answers
to the questions that you're asking.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
And I think I think as well as like, because
I've been through I've been through the process, I have
also even even on top of that, a unique perspective.
I'm coming at it from a place where I've walked
in their shoes, Like I'm deeply empathetic and compassionate about
how everyone is feeling it all time because I have
felt those things. I've felt terrified about this thing that
(19:53):
I've been dreaming of, and I've built up in my
mind that this is going to be the moment, this
is going to be the thing that changes my life
and and is the thing this is. After this, I'm
going to be selling out arenas and I'm going to
be doing all the things and moving out the dreams
that I've been dreaming since.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
I was a kid.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
I understand how deeply everyone is feeling that. I understand
the nerves they're going through, the doubt that's in their mind,
how much they're doubting every and questioning every single thing
they're doing. So I try and bring that knowledge and
that experience to it and just kind of provide them
they know that, you know, I'm not trying to like
(20:28):
ever have a gotcha moment.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
I'm not trying to trick you.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
I'm only ever here to try and support you and
give you the best opportunity to shine. And I think
everybody knows that when we're doing the show, and I
think that's why. It's also when you get the best
out of people. Like if you just ask a cold
question to someone that's kind of jarring, you're not going
to get a lovely response, a great, world rounded response.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
You're going to get like a weird, nervous.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Anxious, strange answer where they're trying to figure something out.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
But you can do this job in a.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Really lovely, compassionate way and get the best and the
most out of everyone.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
But I think it's understanding the fabric of a show.
You know what I mean, And I think, yeah, we
are a part of that. You get it, Like you've
seen all that you've lived through, seeing all the different
judges that have been on this show, do you know
what I mean? Like you've stood in front of the ogs,
you know, with dick O and Mark and Marsha back
in the day. You've stood in front of the judges
that have come internationally when we rebooted the show here
(21:26):
in Australia three years ago, and then here you are
with these three judges who are by the way, the
chemistry between these three judges this time round, it's just on.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah, Marsha's keeping Kyle and Line right in a way
that anyone that's ever been scared of Kyle. I'm not
scared of Kyle. I've worked with him so many times
and I love him. He's such a generous, kind person.
I love him, Yes, totally. So bizarre when people say
to me, oh, I think this of Kyle, but she keeps.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Him in, I know it's because you don't know him.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
I'm like, I've not worked with this person. I was like,
this person rang Meat after doing three years of breakfast
radio and said, are you still doing breakfast radio in
central Queensland. I said, yeah, he goes, oh, well, you
might as well be the janitor, because if they haven't
picked you up and put you somewhere else by now,
you just might as well clean the toilets. And people
might see that as like a nasty thing. But he
was absolutely not correct. Who picks up Who at Kyle's
(22:14):
level would have that conversation with me? You know what,
I mean, to even be bothered to pick up the
phone and have that call, But that's to me wild,
you know, and that's kind.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
No, he's a wonderful and you know, everyone has their
opinions about everyone, right, but he's a wonderful. He's a
wonderful person, and he's really supportive and he really he
really backs people and gets behind you and anything you need,
I'm here. He really is really generous and helpful and
thoughtful and goes out of his way to you know,
check on people and make sure you're okay.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
And he's done the same with me. He's awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
It's amazing, he really is.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
It is nice seeing though, like you know, Marsha is
like you know, she's a queen, like she's quean Marsha.
So there's just this respects that is there, and everybody
respects each other.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Kyle respects Marsha, and Marsha respects Kyle.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
There's just love and.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
Respect there between everyone. And even for me, I've known
Marsha since I was on the show twenty one years ago.
Now I've known Kyle for that.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Long as well.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
I've been friends with Amy since we were in school,
really good friends of Amy since we're in school. So
it's like, not only is there just this, there is
beautiful chemistry because we're all friends.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Same with Scott.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
It's just like there's love, respect, friendship, and we all
want the best for everyone who's walking on that stage.
And I think that breeds a really amazing environment on
set offset behind the scenes, the whole crew. There's still
crew that works on the show that was on the
when I was on the show, Like it's just everybody. Yes,
(23:43):
we're there to make a great TV show with great
moments and a drama with all of that stuff, And
that naturally.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Happens when you provide a safe.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
And loving and encouraging environment for people to try their
best and go out in a limb and give it
a shit and that's what we all do. And I
think that's why this show is so great, because people
are loving that there's a lot of love in the room,
but you know, there's also a lot of drama that
just naturally happens. I think that's what makes it such
a great family show. It's not nasty, it's not coming
(24:15):
from a bad place where you know, there's weird edits
and things happening. It's just a genuine not a love fest.
But there's just a lot there and it's great for
the whole family.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
I watched a preview episode with my best friend and
her daughter was with us. Yeah, And it was so
bizarre because my best friend and I lived together in
the two thousands when Idle was first on TV. We
watched it when we were twenty two together and here
we are in our forties watching it with her daughter,
who is then enjoying the show in the same way
that we did. And I was like, this is so good, Like,
(24:50):
this is so good to be able to show that
this vehicle of Australian idol has been something in our
life for so long that has made so many people's
dreams actually come true. Yeah, show children to work hard
and to believe in yourself. Like there's a lot in
there's a lot in this show. That's what makes television
(25:11):
so good.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Oh, there's a.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
Lot of lessons in there, like when you go through
like you know, you go through auditions, and sometimes people
really have to fight for their for their spot. They
have to really convince the judges because maybe they've got
to sing another song, maybe they didn't quite hit them up,
maybe there's something.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
That they can see they're not quite sure.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
Then you get to top thirty and sometimes people fall
apart and it's like sometimes people don't bother learning the words,
and there are lessons in there.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Do you want this?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Why are you not learning the freaking words?
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Like, it's just there's so many little things and I
think it's why there you.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
Know, we have such a broad audience.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
You've got little kids watching it, You've got people in
the early teenagers and early twenties, and then you've got
the moms, and you've got the grandmas, and you've got
auntie and uncle, and you've got everyone across the board
watching this show because it really is for everyone, and
everybody loves sitting back in their chair and judging and
saying whether they do or don't like someone, or they
think that person should have got through or they shouldn't,
(26:01):
or that was a terrible performance there last.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Week was better.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
People are filled with opinions and love that, and I
think that's what this show stirs, which is it's really
fun and it's fun to watch who people fall in
love with. Like out of those first few episodes, you
watched who jumped.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Out at you?
Speaker 1 (26:17):
And I'm so obsessed with the first girl that walked out.
I think her name was Eilish. I'm from the Alanis
Morissette generation, so I yeah, is in my DNA. And
when she came out and her accent was so rough
and so.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Wrong, I don't get that.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
I'm kilken.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
I didn't even know what she was saying. I didn't either,
But then she and she was super.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Quiet, like when I.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
Saw it, she's super quiet, and then she's got this
really rough accent and You're like, what is this girl going.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
To do something amazing? And that's where you've got your
Susan Boyle moment where people go there's this washer woman
and then Susan Boyle bounced out with like, you know,
echoed a song that is still being you know, remembered
as a TV moment for years, and that Eilish moment
to me was something like that where you can't judge
a book by its cover, you know, you can't judge
(27:06):
someone by their accent. Dummy him is a good example
of that as well. These beautiful voices, these incredible TV
moments are created by people that are the underdogs and
they're the everyday Australians.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
I think that's so cool.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Yeah, John, Yeah, I thought I was worried he wasnt
going to get through and I was like, oh my gosh,
you know, like you stuff.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
He's like the nicest person on earth.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Yeah, yes, story with the trampoline.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
For me, Marcell Hamburger was I'm obsessed with him. First
of all, Hamburger is the last name, not last name.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
I'm a fan.
Speaker 4 (27:39):
Instantly, but just like, I mean again, like he's just
this awkward.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Yeah, you know, you're on edge.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
The whole time you're watching him until he sings, and
it's just magical. And I think that's what the great
thing about this show is is just the surprises, and
it's always unexpected.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Someone walks in the room, you think.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
You know what's going to happen, and you don't, and
then that still happens. Even when the live shows and
you know, these people are great thingers, still things happen,
and it's just I don't know, it's so exciting.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
I love this show so much.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Before I let you go, I ask everyone the same question.
So I've been doing this for a while, but what
is something from behind the scenes of Idol? Something that
is kind of a behind the scenes secret? And I
kind of thought of something that I wanted to ask you,
is that do people ask you about which judge you
would like to see return to the show, like whether
it's Harry Connick Junior or Mark Holden or is there
(28:32):
a judge though that because you are one of the
only people who have been in front of all of
these people, so you have a POV that's different to
what even the viewer has.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Oh that's a really it is a really interesting question.
I think it's great having with our judges. Everyone has
their own perspective, right And Kyle has been a part
of supporting and making and breaking artists for his whole career.
He certainly has been a huge supporter of mine and
so many other Australian artists throughout the years. He's really amazing,
(29:01):
an amazing person to having your corner. Marster is just
a queen, Like we say this, you know, really full
stop queen martyr.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Amy's incredible.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
She's worked so hard, She's got an interesting perspective.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
I think I'm really out of the judges that I've
seen and worked with. I mean, I had a really
great friendship with Dicko and I really respect like he was,
you know, a lot of the time touted the mean judge,
but it's not really that mean. When you think of
the things that are said in boardrooms when you're actually
(29:32):
an artist and in the industry and how cut throat
it is and how black and white things are.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
There is no you know, blurry middle ground.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
It either is this or it's not, or you don't know,
and you figure it out and you know really quickly
if it is or isn't a hit or good or
going to work or whatever. And I kind of I
did love his honesty and Canada like. I think he
was just very sharpshooter, straight suitor, be as it was,
because that's what the industry is like, and Kyle does
that as well.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
This industry, it is.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Savage, is brutal, and it's savage, and I think if
you have to have a thick skin to be able
to survive in this industry, and like, there are things
that have been said.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Of course, you know that people don't like.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
About the way someone looks or that weighs, the way
someone is dressed. But if you look at any of
the comments on social media, people at home are saying
those exact things. Or when you go out on TV
in an outfit that's maybe not flattering or you, or
people just didn't like the way you sing.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
Sometimes people just don't like your space and they.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Just don't like you, and they will go and find
a place to tell you that.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
I think it's funny.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
When people get outraged by some of the you know,
they say nasty things that are said, but that's those
are just honest a lot of the time constructive things
that are being said to you that you can improve on.
And I mean, yeah, all you have to do is
have a look in the comments on Facebook or Instagram
or TikTok or anywhere, and you know, on news articles
to see how nasty people at home can be. So
(31:03):
you know, if you can't hear it from someone you respect,
that is in the industry, you're going to really struggle
to make it through with all of the noise and
all of the people's opinions out there in the world.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
So I think Diggo as well was really iconic for
that time as well, because you know, he himself could
have walked on stage and tried to be palatable or
tried to make the audience love him or whatever, and
he was like, absolutely not. I'm going to put my face,
my name to these comments and help these young people
(31:35):
be prepared for an industry that is brutal. So it
starts here totally.
Speaker 4 (31:39):
And Kyle does the same thing, and he cops a
lot of flack for saying things that everyone is thinking,
oh my god, why does he have to say something
so mean, but that he's actually it's really ballsy to
look someone in the ir national TV and know that
people are going to think that it's horrible what you're saying,
but say it for the greater good of telling the
person what they need to hear. And I think I'm
(32:03):
the kind of person that appreciates that.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I'm always the.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Person that's like, just tell me exactly, Like tell me,
I don't want you to mince your word.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Just tell me exactly that some people are.
Speaker 4 (32:14):
A bit less confident, and they're a bit softer, and
they're not so strong and so resilient. So it is
harder for some people to take. But unfortunately that is
the reality of our business, is that you know, there
are hard conversations that you have to have all the time.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
I'm married to my manager.
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Can you imagine what those conversations are like sometimes.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Well, I've been rolling on a river with you for
so crowd marry red by lund room and my two
best girlfriends say to me, that's regularly cool to dance
moves right there. And I am obsessed with you. I've
been in your audience for so long. I have seen
you live, I've seen you shape shift over the many years,
(32:55):
and I am in your audience and I think you
do such a fantastic job. And thank you for being
so generous with your time and talking to me today.
It has actually made my week.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Of course, anytime love chatting with you.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
It's been a real pleasure. Thank you for having me. Bye,
god see you later.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Thanks
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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