Dicko Reveals Guy Sebastian's Massive 'Australian Idol' Royalties

Ian “Dicko” Dickson has been sharing Australian Idol flashbacks to 2003 on the current season of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

Last week, the former judge and radio host relived his biggest television mistake: when he commented, “You need to choose more appropriate clothes or shed some pounds”, in 2003 after Paulini performed a rendition of Destiny’s Child’s Survivor on the show.

Discussing the aftermath, Dicko revealed he received a letter from a viewer, a surgeon whose daughter had been admitted to the hospital with an eating disorder.

“He said, ‘This is your fault. She was an Australian Idol fan, and when you said that comment to Paulini, she spiralled out of control, and she is now in hospital; she might die, and if she does, I am going to hold you personally responsible,'” Dicko admitted. 

Dicko continued, “To feel that my words had driven a beautiful young girl, the apple of her father’s eye, into a hospital ward where she could die; it’s really hard.”

“You’ve got to accept responsibility, you know? And I’m prepared to accept in that long society struggle to get there; I’m one of the villains that brought us there. I can’t change that. We do live in a different world now,” Dicko said.

On last night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity, Dicko time-travelled to 2003 again and revealed a then 21-year-old Guy Sebastian’s eye-watering Australian Idol royalties in a moment he’ll never forget.

“He’d won Idol, and it had been a massive success, and it was the fastest-selling album of all time – it beat [John Farnham’s] Whispering Jack,” Dicko said, per news.com.au. 

“We went out and took him for a bowl of pasta, and after the lunch, we handed him an envelope. He said, ‘What’s this?’ We said it’s your first royalty cheque for all the records you’ve sold. And he took out the cheque, and it said: ‘Guy Sebastian, one million dollars.’”

Dicko added, “Never done it before and never done it since, but it was a special moment to give him.”

In 2021, Sebastian and Sony Music Australia announced a new joint venture label that will aim to discover new undiscovered talent across the country.  

Sebastian commented, "I feel immensely grateful that we are now able to establish my own label as I feel it is so important at this stage of my career to nurture and develop other creatives. This is something I am passionate about, I find immeasurably rewarding, and it also makes me so happy.”