Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson reveals why he thinks the Australian Idol reboot will fail

Ian “Dicko” Dickson has revealed why he doesn’t think the upcoming Australian Idol reboot on Channel 7 will work.

Ian “Dicko” Dickson has revealed why he doesn’t think the upcoming Australian Idol reboot will work.

Channel 7 announced in October last year that it is bringing back the reality show in 2022.

But Dicko, who was a judge on all seven seasons between 2003-2009, told the TV Reload podcast that he doubts the show will be a hit.

“I don’t even know if it is coming back,” Dicko told podcast host Benjamin Norris. “It certainly seems to have dropped off all of the Upfronts [a presentation TV networks put on each year to showcase their upcoming shows], so I don’t know if they’ve had second thoughts.

Kyle Sandilands, Marcia Hines and Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson on the set of Australian Idol.

“To be honest, they should have second thoughts,” Dicko said. “There’s no guarantee that because it was an iconic television show 18 years ago, that it’s going to do the business now.”

Dicko said one of the things that made Australian Idol great back in the day “was the fact we travelled around the country and saw all these nutjobs turning up singing when they can’t”.

But he told Norris he doubts that Channel 7 will have the “patience” to hold a similar number of auditions for the upcoming series.

“They’re not going to do that anymore, they’re not,” Dicko said. “And so we’re not going to end up with all these amazing characters who weren’t that great at singing, all the loveable idiots on TV and fodder for some ritual humiliation.

“That’s what everyone is really nostalgic about,” he continued. “If they’re brave enough to bring back the ritual slaughter of innocents in places like Dubbo and Bundaberg, great, then I think they’ve got a chance. But if they’re gonna sanitise it and keep it squeaky clean, no one has the nostalgia for that because they can still get that now.

Dicko surrounded by contestants in Kalgoorlie in 2007.

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“What they’ve got nostalgia for is the body count and the blood on the walls,” he said.

Dicko said on the TV Reload podcast that he hasn’t been approached about appearing on the rebooted series but added that he would consider it if asked.

In response to Dicko’s comments, a Seven spokesperson told news.com.au: “Dicko is a treasured part of Australian Idol’s past and we’re looking forward to taking this iconic show into the future. As we said in October last year, Australian Idol will debut on the Seven Network in 2022. We can’t wait for it to start.”