Jessica Mauboy has clapped back at Kyle Sandilands, years after the radio host made a comment about her physical appearance as a judge on Australian Idol.
The pop star was just 16 years old when Sandilands told her to “lose the jelly belly” after she performed as a contestant on the fourth season of the singing show in 2006.
Now, 20 years later, Mauboy said the comment has stuck with her given how young she was when she appeared on Australian Idol.
“I was so young and I’d never had this put on me before,” Mauboy said on Stellar’s podcast Something To Talk About. “My mum never said that to me, my dad never said that to me, my sisters never said that to me and I never got it at school. No one ever commented about my body.”
Mauboy added that Sandilands’ comment has followed her even all these years later, despite an illustrious music career beyond Australian Idol.
“The comments Kyle made will be forever attached to everything I do,” she said. “Just talking about this, I felt like a little girl again.”
Sandilands’ comment felt especially unnecessary, Mauboy said, because it had nothing to do with her singing abilities, which is the point of Australian Idol.
“I’m 16 and that’s what I’m here for, I’m here to learn and I’m here to understand, but how in-depth is it about my appearance? Isn’t it a singing show?” Mauboy said.
“It’s awful, it’s bullying, it’s hurtful and now that someone’s put that in my mind, I’m going to obsess about it. If you’re not strong enough or you’ve never been taught how to stand up for yourself, or love yourself, it can be a very scary place,” she added.
One silver lining to come from the situation arose when Mauboy became a guest judge and mentor on the current season of Australian Idol, where she pledged to make sure that comments like Sandilands’ “cannot go on”.
“I have to be very careful [judging on Australian Idol] because I know what it felt like having been on the show and having Kyle call me a jelly belly. I think we need to hold people accountable and be mindful of what we’re saying and who we’re saying it to,” Mauboy said.
The beloved Aussie sweetheart placed second during her initial run on Australian Idol, but has since returned in a mentor role alongside judges Amy Shark, Marcia Hines and Sandilands.
It comes as Sandilands is embroiled in a legal battle over his firing from The Kyle & Jackie ‘O’ Show, with the shock jock making his first court appearance in the case last week.
Mauboy, meanwhile, welcomed her first child last year, and is reportedly working on a new album after establishing an independent label in 2025.
Lead images: Channel 7 and Getty Images
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