‘She’s negative’: Guy slams Cosima

A war of words between the two Idol stars has escalated, with Guy accusing Cosima of being “highly competitive” and unfriendly behind the scenes.

They both rose to fame on Australian Idol 15 years ago but as their careers went in opposite directions it looks like there is no love lost between Guy Sebastian and Cosima De Vito.

Sebastian has hit back at claims De Vito made over the weekend that there was infighting between contestants during the inaugural season of the reality TV show in 2003.

De Vito, who dropped out of the top three because of throat issues, told news.com.au singers on the show were “under so much pressure” which in turn caused “rifts” between them.

“It’s not easy to forge friendship when you are under that much pressure and you are trying to win a TV show,” she said.

Sebastian and De Vito during Australian Idol. Picture: Tom Holland/Who Magazine

De Vito claimed the show’s contestants had not gotten on behind the scenes. Picture: Guy Wilmott.

“For me there wasn’t enough time to bond with people that maybe I could have bonded with.

“Maybe because of our strong personalities, we also didn’t get that opportunity. Sometimes it was a misunderstanding because someone took someone else’s song, or some other little things that created rifts between people.”

But Sebastian, who went on to beat Shannon Noll and win the competition, told 9Honey Celebrity he remembers Australian Idol very differently.

Labelling De Vito “highly competitive”, Sebastian claimed her personality “drove a lot of people away” in the Idol house.

Australian Idol finalist Cosima De Vito withdrew from the competition because of a throat condition.

While De Vito’s career stalled, Sebastian is one of Australia’s top performers. Picture: Luke Drew

“I just think Cosima can be a little bit negative at times,” Sebastian said. “People like to have a crack at Idol but it changed my life, so I’ll never, ever slam it. It was my life source.”

Unlike De Vito, Sebastian said he didn’t just get a career out of Idol but also met future friends while competing.

“She obviously put the competition side first, whereas there were genuine friendships,” Sebastian said.

“Like me and Shannon Noll are mates, and I had a very close mate on the show, Levi (Kereama), who unfortunately passed on — he was like my little brother. And there were so many others, like Paulini Curuenavuli, who I just got along with so well.”