Kyle Sandilands sacked from Australian Idol

Idol no more
Kyle ousted, Mark to return?Kyle Sandilands has been dropped as a judge on Australian Idol after an incident on his Sydney radio program in which a 14-year-old girl was hooked up to a lie detector and revealed she had been raped.

While Kyle and his radio co-host Jackie O have taken a “recess” from their 2DayFM radio show (Sydney’s No.1 FM breakfast show) at their own choosing, it is believed that 19, the British company who own the rights to the Idol format, were less than pleased with the controversy and pushed Ten and the Australian arm of production company FremantleMedia to oust him.

Kyle and Jackie O

“We thank Kyle for his contribution to Australian Idol over the last four years but it has become increasingly clear that as Idol has remained a family focused show, even more so this year with the 6.30pm Sunday time slot, his radio persona has taken on a more controversial position over this period which is not in the interest of the show. Australian Idol is firmly a family program and the recent controversy surrounding Kyle’s radio program (The Kyle and Jackie O show) has highlighted more than ever the conflicting attitude of the two careers,” reads a network statement.

Ironically it was Kyle's tell-it-like-it-is attitude and penchant for controvsial barbs than got him the gig in the first place.

Ten have also confirmed that Kyle will appear in the new series’ audition episodes, which have already been completed and begin airing next week.

Australian Idol judges Kyle, Marcia Hines, Ian "Dicko" Dickson and Mark Holden in 2007, the series which featured all four

The next question is who will replace Kyle on the judging panel – the obvious choice being, of course, original judge Mark Holden who was dumped after the 2007 season. There is a matter of weeks before the live shows start and very little time to go judge hunting, but would Mark - infamous for being equal parts kooky and moody - even be interested in the job? (I'm thinking yes) If they ask him, that is.

As for Kyle, I tend to think that he will probably just chuck the whole thing in and move to LA, where he has already been working on music and film projects.

Scott Keenan
Oops o'clock