Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson reveals horror fallout from infamous ‘gold dress’ scandal

Former Australian Idol judge Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson has opened up about the ongoing fallout from his infamous comments to contestant Paulini.

Former Australian Idol judge Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson has opened up about the ongoing fallout from his infamous comments to singer Paulini during the first season of the show.

In comments aired in 2003, Dicko critiqued Paulini after she’d performed a rendition of the Destiny’s Child hit Survivor – but instead focused on her appearance and outfit, a figure-hugging gold dress.

He told the 20-year-old hopeful she “should choose more appropriate clothes or shed some pounds”, sparking a national controversy as viewers accused him of fat-shaming.

Speaking to fellow I’m A Celeb contestant Woody Whitelaw in last night’s episode, Dickson opened up about what, 20 years later, remains the biggest controversy of his career.

Ian 'Dicko' Dickson on Australian Idol.

Paulini did her best to laugh off the comments.

“If Paulini had come to be at the record company and said, ‘This is what I’m wearing to the ARIAs,’ I would have advised her against it. If she’d have walked a red carpet wearing that 20 years ago, there would have been comments in women’s magazines,” he said.

But, Dicko revealed, he was soon to learn his comments had far-reaching effects. After the season aired, he received a letter from a viewer whose daughter had been admitted to hospital for anorexia.

“He said, ‘This is your fault. She’s an Australian Idol fan, and when you said that comment to Paulini, she spiralled out of control. She’s now in hospital, she might die, and if she does, I’m going to hold you personally responsible.”

He revealed that eventually he spoke to the father, in what was a “pretty terse conversation”.

He then sought advice from a psychologist friend, who told him that eating disorders can be triggered by real world events, “and you have to accept that what you said might have been the trigger”.

“To feel that my words had driven a beautiful young girl, the apple of her father’s eye, into a hospital ward where she could die, is really hard,” Dicko said, breaking down in tears.

Dicko speaks on I’m A Celeb.

“You’ve got to accept responsibility, you know? In that long society struggle, I’m one of the villains, and I can’t change that. I’d like to have learned from it; I’d like the world to have learned from it.”

And he insisted he had changed his ways.

“I certainly don’t have the slightest inkling of bailing someone up for the way they look these days.”

Dicko also spoke about the ‘gold dress’ controversy in another scene at camp last week, as MAFS star Domenica Calarco asked him about the fallout from the scandal.

Paulini said in 2017: ‘There’s no way anyone could do that today.’

“[If it had happened now], I’d be tarred and feathered. I wouldn’t be on this show now,” Dicko said.

“I said 11 very banal words, that just sent the country into a tailspin. I’m a straight shooter, but these days I’ve had my arrows confiscated. I promise you, there are thoughts going on in this head, on this show, that I can’t verbalise,” he said.

“Would I say it today? No I wouldn’t, but I’m a different person today and the world’s different.”

It's been 20 years and people are still talking about the gold dress.

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Speaking to news.com.au in 2017, Paulini herself said she thought times had changed for the better since the infamous moment.

“I think it has changed a lot; there’s no way anyone could do that today. People would just be outraged. There’s no way,” she said.

“And anyway, they shouldn’t be able to. These are often young kids standing up there being judged. We have so many problems with young girls who don’t think they’re skinny enough. There’s so much pressure about this mould that you have to fit into – it’s all crap.”

Meanwhile, another former Australian Idol star, Ricki-Lee Coulter, spoke out this week about the brutal backstage fight that led to her quitting the pop group Young Divas.

Speaking on the Chart Beats podcast, Coulter revealed her time in the group – made up of four former Idol contestants, Paulini included – came to an abrupt end when she met with an unnamed person from group’s team to inform him she’d lost her voice and couldn’t perform that night.

“He was so enraged. He lost his mind. I’m a 20-year-old girl, having an adult conversation with a grown-a** man. He was yelling, screaming, and then he threw a sandwich in my face,” she said.

“That was very much the end of it for me. My voice is my career, and that’s how you’re going to react? I thought it was so embarrassing for him.”

I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! continues 7.30pm Tuesday on Ten