Natalie Gauci shares her experience after winning the 2007 Australian Idol
In the years since her giddy grand finale moment, Natalie Gauci has survived a post-Idol rollercoaster ride. Read her story
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Standing in a red dress on the Sydney Opera House stage before a screaming crowd of thousands, with a million more watching on television, she waited as the envelope was unsealed.
“The winner of Australian Idol 2007, guaranteed a record deal and a dream come true … is Natalie Gauci.”
At that moment, standing beside runner-up Matt Corby, with a hit single, contract and tour guaranteed, Natalie Gauci couldn’t imagine that life could get any better.
And she was right.
From the heights of that Idol stage, it was a rough descent as Natalie struggled to navigate the pressures, pitfalls and temptations of fame, all while trying to process sexual abuse from her past.
In the 17 years since that giddy grand finale moment, Natalie has dealt with depression and overcome addiction in a post-Idol rollercoaster ride that has finally brought her to a safe space here on the Gold Coast.
Now mother to her almost five-year-old son Jedediah, or Jedi, Natalie is a beloved music teacher at Lindisfarne Anglican School and Pacific Coast Christian School, as well as an NDIS-approved music therapist, and she’s still making music.
But this time, she’s the one in control of what she writes and how she releases it.
“Ever since I came here, first in Currumbin Waters and now in Tweed Heads, I’ve found peace,”said Natalie, whose credits include a number two ARIA single, a platinum album, and performances and collaborations with Lionel Richie, Dannii Minogue and Kate Ceberano.
“That’s been a long time coming, because it’s been a wild time since winning Idol.
“To be honest, everything that happened to me while filming the show was amazing, it really was the happiest time in my life. I felt so looked after by the cast and crew.
“They even had a therapist there for us and she was fantastic … I just wish she was there after the show.
“Working with a big record label, it was such a machine and I just couldn’t do it. I lost confidence in myself. I felt like I was not being heard and I had to escape it to figure myself out. I spent years travelling around the world, I lived in Germany, I went to Sweden and did pop music there, I was in London for five years, I had a residency at a jazz club, I went everywhere.
“I was trying to find who I was before Idol, when I had that joy and innocence
about me that I lost when I
got signed. It never was about the artist.
“But now that I’m here, now that I’m a mother, I’ve found my purpose and I know who I am and what my music is for.”
Natalie said the pressure and power dynamics within the music industry had also triggered her past trauma.
She said while many of her darkest days post-Idol were due to her decisions, the industry was also not set up to support young, vulnerable artists, particularly women.
“When I was young I was sexually abused by my music teacher, and to find myself again in a situation where I felt powerless against music professionals was incredibly difficult,” said Natalie, who has been sober since 2011.
“Unfortunately, I feel that the music industry really normalises questionable, even abusive behaviour, and that’s what we’re starting to see come out now.
“It’s absolutely wrong. With so many young performers, there has to be a system they can trust in and where they won’t be taken advantage of.
“I feel like this is where I can serve a purpose, where my music can connect with people and where, as a mum, artist and songwriter, I can shed some light and make a difference.”
Natalie said she recorded a new album, Brand New Day, late last year which featured songs she had written over the course of her post-Idol journey.
She said writing and recording the tracks, with the latest single ‘Smile’ released on Friday, October 4, had been another form of therapy.
“All of these songs were written over the last 16 years, but recorded just last year. It felt like I was really having a breakthrough in my life, I was recovering from depression, PTSD, abuse, all of the post-Idol fallout. All of the things that, at the time, I didn’t have a strong enough foundation to deal with. But now I do.
“To have my son, to have gone through proper therapy, to have firm faith, to believe in myself and the gifts I’ve been given, it is a brand new day for me.
“I remember winning Idol, that feeling of using my voice to connect with the audience, to connect with millions of people, that was the part that always felt right. That’s what I’m trying to get back to.”
Natalie said as much as Idol represented both the best and worst days of her life, she did not regret the experience.
However, she said she would – and does – caution young performers today from auditioning for similar talent shows.
She said while she enjoyed her own experience on the Voice in 2020, after being asked to audition, it highlighted just how much the entertainment landscape had changed.
“For me, it was good timing as I had only just come back to Australia and it got my name out there and I was able to keep performing all through that time – I think I was one of the few artists who had gigs during Covid,” she said.
“But those shows now are really about the judges, they’re not about the artists. The first few years of Idol you could name all the winners, it was a different era and was a huge launch pad. But these days, no one knows who wins the Voice – but they can name the judges.
“I say to my music students now, don’t go down that track … skip the middle-man and use social media. You can control your own career.;
“Look at Tones and I, she’s done incredibly well and she did it herself.
“I love being able to work with these young artists, to hopefully give them some good advice and be that steady support for them. I do believe this is where I was meant to be.
“It’s ironic that I was hurt by a music teacher, but now when I look at these children, I feel like I’m looking at myself as a child. Knowing they can talk to me and trust me is one of the most healing things.
“It’s been an incredible journey I’ve been on and it’s amazing to be out the other side. And to be there in the best place in Australia, I really have won.”
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