Australian Idol 2023: Kyle Sandilands shocks panel with private revelation

Kyle Sandilands looked close to tears as he made a heartbreaking confession on Australian Idol, leaving the panel of judges speechless.

Kyle Sandilands looked close to tears on tonight’s Australian Idol, where he made a little-known confession about his rough upbringing.

The 51-year-old KIIS FM radio host stars on the rebooted Seven talent series alongside fellow judges Amy Shark, Meghan Trainor and Harry Connick Jr.

In its third episode back onscreen following a 14-year hiatus, the judges are still at the auditions stage of the competition, where on Wednesday night’s show they met Darwin mum Isabella Vicente, 25.

The full-time musician told how she was building her life up from a year of being homeless, when Sandilands dropped his own story of homelessness.

“You may not know this, but I was homeless when I was 15 for a year, it’s not easy,” Sandilands said.

Kyle Sandilands looked close to tears on the latest episode of Australian Idol. Picture: Channel 7

“And getting out of that situation and making your life matter, that’s impressive, just getting out of that situation, because most people don’t.”

Isabella said she “didn’t know that” about Sandilands, which prompted the same response from his co-panel.

“Me neither …” Shark said. “I don’t think any of us did.”

Amy Shark was left stunned by the revelation.

Sandilands said he doesn’t talk about it often.

“It’s not easy, you don’t wanna run around … It’s a bit embarrassing sometimes.”

Afterwards, Isabella impressed the judges with her acoustic rendition of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game, and was whisked through to the top 50.

Isabella was granted a spot in the top 50.

Meanwhile Sandilands, who recently welcomed his first child with fiance Tegan Kynaston, has previously opened up about living on the streets when he was a teenager.

On a 2021 episode of Mamamia’s No Filter podcast, he said his abusive household with an angry father drove him to being homeless.

“The first night I was really scared. I think I rode my bike around and cried and cried and cried until I stopped in the park somewhere and I was just scared,” he said.

“I didn’t know where to go or who was around.

“For the first few months, I stayed behind a local supermarket where they throw all their boxes out. I would steal a loaf of bread and a carton of milk from the early morning deliveries, and I would eat the whole loaf of bread and drink the whole carton of milk. And that’s all I’d eat every day, day in, day out.”

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O.

A year later, while living with hus aunt in north Queensland, Sandilands spotted a radio job ad in the local paper.

And the rest, as they say, is history, with Sandilands now one of the highest – if not the highest - paid talents in Australia alongside radio co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson.

The duo reportedly earn around $7 – $8 million a year each.