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Australian Idol’s Ricki-Lee: ‘Do I think I was robbed? Well… sure.’

Ricki-Lee Coulter looks back on her shock elimination from Idol more than 20 years ago
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Standing on the Australian Idol stage in 2004, Ricki-Lee Coulter was mostly confident. Throughout the competition, she was all but flawless, a favourite to take the crown.

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So when she was voted out in 6th place, the outcry was heard around Australia. Even now, 20 years on, the moment remains an unlikely hot-button topic of Australian pop culture.

“It had such an impact which is so funny, especially when you think about things that have happened in the world,” Ricki-Lee, 39, says with a laugh. “To have people still stop me on the street and say they cried their hearts out [when it happened] is surreal.”

Ricki-Lee Coulter wipes away tears as she is eliminated from Australian Idol in 2004
Being eliminated from Idol in 2004 was just the beginning of Ricki-Lee’s career.

And finally, Ricki-Lee is ready to have her say.

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“Do I think I was robbed?” she says with a brief pause. “Well… sure. I don’t think I chose the right song for Beatles night. But I was a teenager and only listened to hip-hop or soul music so I didn’t know many Beatles songs unless it was a cover [by another artist]. That’s why I got voted out. But everything else was perfect in the lead-up.

“I kind of loved that it happened though. I’ve been able to carve out my career in a way I may not have been had I won.”

Ricki-Lee Coulter as host on the stage of Australian Idol 2024
As host, Ricki-Lee can enjoy Idol without the fear of elimination. (Credit: Channel Seven)

After exiting the show, it would’ve been easy to fade into the reality landscape, like many contestants do. But the uproar was so loud that it spurred her on.

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“I took great confidence in that support,” she says. “Then I was 18 and I made the most pivotal decision of my whole life. I turned down an offer from a major record label because it didn’t feel right and signed with an indie label instead, which is a much harder path. But I can take ownership for the success I’ve had. I’ve had to fight like hell for every bit of it but I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Since then, Ricki-Lee has continued to prove her worth by releasing her fifth studio album On My Own, fronting Idol and Australia’s Got Talent, all while co-hosting the #1 nationwide radio show, Ricki-Lee, Tim & Joel on Nova 96.9. She may be exhausted (“Far out, it’s tough!” she agrees) but Ricki-Lee is up for a challenge.

Ricki-Lee Coulter poses with her radio co-hosts Tim Blackwell and Joel Creasey
Ricki-Lee with her radio co-hosts Tim Blackwell and Joel Creasey. (Credit: Instagram)

“Doing it all at once is really rare, but I’m quite an overachiever!” she says with a laugh. “It comes with complications of course, but I’m one tenacious son of a b**** [laughs] and I’m not afraid of working hard.”

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A perfectionist by her own admission, Ricki-Lee says she’s not immune to pressure. It took 10 years for her to release her fifth album and she knew the expectation would be high.

“There were a lot of reasons why [it took so long]” she says, including staff turnover at her record label. “I got a new team that had to get to know me, but it just didn’t feel like we were on the same page. I was making music for years but we couldn’t agree on things and none of it was being released by the label. It just wasn’t working.”

After parting ways with the label, Ricki-Lee pivoted and released it independently.

“I just decided that I was going to do it,” she explains. “I wanted to give my fans what they’d be waiting for, so I took on the challenge. We [with husband Rich who is also her manager] were at the helm of all it and to be rewarded by reaching number one [on the ARIA charts], and performing it on Australian Idol 20 years after I left, was simply amazing. I proved to myself that I could do it and that in itself, is so rewarding.”

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Ricki-Lee Coulter poses, smiling, with her husband Rich Harrison
Ricki-Lee and her husband Rich Harrison. (Credit: Instagram)

As for what’s to come in 2025, Ricki-Lee is excited to have a front seat to the show as Idol kicks off. But without realising it, she may give them the belief they need to succeed.

“There’s so many moments in life that I look back on and realise it just comes down to belief, following your gut and giving it a crack,” she says. “Because why not? It could be amazing.”

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