Dicko finally 'apologises' to Paulini
He was known as the Simon Cowell of Australian Idol, perhaps even more brutal giving the comments that were made by him to a contestant.
Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickinson infamously fat-shamed Paulini Curuenavuli on the show back in 2003 and he has now apologised…sort of.
On the singing show’s first season Dicko told the then 21-year-old: “You should choose more appropriate clothes or shed some pounds.”
While doing an interview on the Hot 91.1FM Dave, Sam & Ash show on Wednesday the hosts had a surprise for Paulini - a message from Dicko!
While referring to his past comments the 54-year-old said: “I cannot believe it was 13 years ago that I said those 11 mundane words that sent the Australian media into meltdown.”
“I was trying to be nice at the time, can you believe. But I’m glad that you’ve gone on to do such great things,” he said, congratulating her.
He also joked in the message that “those little cruel words” turned the pair of them “into Australian reality’s TV power couple”.
Dicko finished saying: “What I want to say is, I’m so proud of you girl, you go get ’em.”
While it was a sweet message to Paulini we wouldn’t exactly call his 2003 comments “mundane” or “little cruel words”.
The star of the stage show The Bodyguard did say the sentiment was “really nice”.
However, previously in 2014 the 34-year-old admitted in an interview with Woman’s Day the TV moment “affected me a lot”.
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“[The comments] hurt my confidence. I went back stage and started sobbing,” she told the publication.
Paulini has gone on to have an impressive career and is currently starring as Rachel Marron in the musical The Bodyguard.
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