Kyle Sandilands reveals megastar who almost joined Australian Idol panel

Before the revamped Australian Idol snagged US stars Meghan Trainor and Harry Connick Jr. as judges, another high-profile celeb was about to sign on.

Kyle Sandilands has revealed the music superstar who almost signed on to join the Australian Idol panel.

The popular series, which is being relaunched on Seven on Monday night, will feature the radio host alongside Aussie singer Amy Shark and international stars Harry Connick Jr. and Meghan Trainor in the judges’ seats.

Idol alum Marcia Hines will also join the show as a special guest judge.

But speaking to news.com.au’s podcast I’ve Got News For You this week, Sandilands revealed it was almost a very different panel.

“We wanted like a 50 Cent or a Snoop Dogg or a Harry Connick Jr. or a Michael Buble, someone with proper cred outside of what the rest of us could provide,” he told host Andrew Bucklow.

Kyle Sandilands, Meghan Trainor, Amy Shark and Harry Connick Jr are the new Idol judges.

Sandilands added that he’d pushed “really hard” for Snoop, who he has a personal friendship with, but “couldn’t make it happen” due to his being “banned from Australia” in 2007 for drugs and firearms offences.

The radio presenter added that Idol producers were “close” to landing 50 Cent as well, but that it had fallen through when another star had signed on the dotted line.

“Harry (Connick Jr.’s) people came back and were like, ‘yep, Harry would love to do it’. He’s obviously done American Idol for a while and he was available to do it, so it was a case of first in, best dressed,” Sandilands explained.

“Once we got the green light from Harry, we were like, well, let’s lock these judges in.”

Sandilands revealed he’d tried to get Snoop on the show. Picture: Andres Kudacki/AFP

50 Cent was also “close” to signing on. Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Sandilands also spoke on the I’ve Got News For You podcast about the fact he had a frosty relationship with Harry Connick Jr during filming.

“He does not like me,” Sandilands said. “I don’t know whether someone had said, ‘Hey, this guy’s a c**k’, or whatever, but I just felt that he wasn’t really that into me.”

However, the KIIS FM host was still determined to win him over, and explained that he’d noticed the star’s supply of his favourite chips from Japan had run out, so he’d asked his team to arrange a restock.

“(So I thought) I’m going to give this a******e one last chance … I had (the chips) left in his dressing room, and he came out and was a little bit like, ‘Kyle, where’d you get these?’ and I said I got them imported, and I think he was impressed,” Sandilands said.

“I’ve never made that much effort, and I thought, ‘Why am I running up a mountain backwards for you?’ If the guy doesn’t like me, he doesn’t like me … but yeah, he’s very skilled at what he does. I like him, I even picked him to be on the show, and he’s very good on there.”

He then joked: “You know, I just wear people down, like grinding old teeth. So by the end of it, he’ll probably be in my wedding party.”

Australian Idol premieres Monday night at 7.30pm on Channel 7.

Originally published as Kyle Sandilands reveals megastar who almost joined Australian Idol panel