"I'm never speaking to him again." All the Australian Idol behind-the-scenes gossip in one place.

Australian Idol has officially returned to our screens.

In the 14 years since the show aired, we've had plenty of time to get nostalgic about it - Shannon Noll singing his heart out to some country blues, the formation of the Young Divas and who could forget the fabulous performances by Courtney Act?

Now, we're the second week into the new series, and there's already plenty of behind-the-scenes gossip going around, particularly involving new hosts Kyle Sandilands and Harry Connick Jr.

Watch Stan Walker's audition for Australian Idol. Post continues below.

We've rounded it all up here in one neat package for you.

The prank that went wrong. 

It turns out things didn't go down well when a KIIS FM staffer pranked the judges on the show this week. 

During the audition, posted to Kyle and Jackie O’s official Instagram page, staffer 'Intern Pete' who works with Sandilands, can be seen singing Harry Styles' Watermelon Sugar while wearing a face mask and sunglasses to disguise his face.

At the end of the audition, Sandilands asks Pete to take his face mask off and reveal himself, before declaring, "I knew it". 

"Who is it?" asks fellow judge Meghan Trainor.

"The idiot who works with me," replies Sandilands, as Trainor and Amy Shark burst into laughter. 

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A post shared by Kyle and Jackie O (@kyleandjackieo)

But according to Sandilands, Connick, who was "not into jokes", wasn't exactly happy when he realised the audition was fake. 

"Harry stood up and said, ‘Oh, my God, we’re better than this’, and walked off the set," Sandilands said on his radio show on Wednesday. 

"I'm never speaking to him again. I’m not saying a word to him on the show, I’m not even acknowledging his existence."

Sandilands' co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson then claimed she heard Connick requested footage of him reacting to the audition was deleted by producers... which could explain why Connick doesn't seem to appear on screen during the audition.

Exhibit A. 

Image: Channel Seven/Mamamia.

 Kyle Sandilands and Harry Connick Jr. had a huge 'blow up' over the phone. 

Speaking of Sandilands and Connick, Sandilands told KIIS FM's Will and Woody the pair also had a huge 'blow up' over the phone which ended their friendship.

The rivalry reportedly came to a head when Sandilands criticised Connick in an interview for 'going on about the pronouns' of the contestants. 

Kyle Sandilands and Harry Connick Jr did not see eye-to-eye on the set of Australian Idol, culminating in a blow up over the phone.https://t.co/bLKe2jgMpr

— news.com.au (@newscomauHQ) January 24, 2023

"He rang me. I said to someone that he wanted the pronouns to be put onto the contestants' sheets. I thought I heard him say to a producer, 'We need the pronouns,' and I told someone on an interview, 'Oh Harry's going on about the pronouns.' Apparently, it wasn't Harry. And he rang me and he took great offence," Sandilands said. 

"I just thought 'what a flop' and hung up. That was it. Friendship over."

Sandilands later elaborated to news.com.au that the pair have been strained ever since the argument. But Sandilands did try to repair the friendship, saying he went out of his way to import a brand of chips that Connick loves from Japan into Australia. 

"I think he was impressed. I never made that much effort, and I thought, 'Why am I running up a mountain backwards for you?' If the guy doesn't like me, he doesn't like me… but yeah, he's very skilled at what he does. I like him, I even picked him to be on the show, and he's very good on there."

Two major megastars almost joined the panel.

On the I've Got News For You podcast, Sandilands said that two music superstars almost signed on to join the Australian Idol panel but in the end it didn't work out.

"We wanted like a 50 Cent or a Snoop Dogg or a Harry Connick Jr. or a Michael Buble, someone with proper cred outside of what the rest of us could provide," he said.

He then said he had campaigned "really hard" for Snoop Dogg to become a judge, but "couldn't make it happen". The American rapper, who shares a close friendship with Sandilands, has previously been unable to enter Australia due to prior convictions, including the time he was "banned from Australia" in 2007 for drugs and firearms offences.

Sandilands also said they were "close" to landing 50 Cent as well, but it had fallen through once Harry Connick Jr. confirmed he wanted to be a judge. 

"Harry (Connick Jr.'s) people came back and were like, 'yep, Harry would love to do it'. He was available to do it, so it was a case of first in, best dressed. Once we got the green light from Harry, we were like, well, let's lock these judges in."

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This article was originally published on January 28, 2023 and was updated on February 9 2023.

Feature Image: Channel Seven/Instagram@australianidol

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