After Guy Sebastian won Idol, Dicko handed him a $1 million cheque. Here's what happened next.

These days, Guy Sebastian is an Australian music icon with six number one singles, two number one albums and over 1.5 million album sales.

But back in 2003, he was just a 21-year-old hopeful muso auditioning for the first season of Australian Idol. 

With his mop of brown hair, bright green eyes and melodic voice, it was clear from the onset that we were dealing with a star in the making. 

Watch a snippet of Guy Sebastian's 2003 Australian Idol audition. Post continues after video. 

He won Idol, and left with a BMG recording contract all in the same week his winning single, 'Angels Brought Me Here' reached number one on the Australian charts.

During a conversation on Anh's Brush With Fame, Guy reflected on his early days in the music industry, admitting he didn't feel like he stood a chance. 

"I wasn’t sure music was an option for me," he explained to Anh Do in 2021.

"I was a weird-looking chubby, half-Asian kid who didn’t have the pop star look. I got on the train with all these rejection letters, tail between my legs and thought, I can’t change how I look, but I can still be a musician," he added.

"I’ll just write songs for other beautiful-looking people; that was my mindset."

Guy Sebastian and Shannon Noll in 2004. Image: Getty.

Following his first win, the singer released his debut album Just As I Am and then travelled to the UK to compete in World Idol. He placed seventh but his trajectory only continued to reach new limits. His second album, Beautiful Life, went double platinum in Australia. 

For Australian Idol judge Ian 'Dicko' Dickson, it's hard to imagine such success could have come from the show in its inaugural season. 

Whilst he is currently competing on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here, he spoke openly with his campmates about his relationship with the then-21-year-old singer. 

In fact, Dicko recalled the moment he handed Guy his first pay cheque following Australian Idol's first season in 2003. 

"He’d won Idol and had been a massive success," the former judge detailed. "[It was] the fastest-selling album of all time, beat [John Farnham’s] Whispering Jack. He did a great job on it."

Dicko went on to explain that he took the singer out for a meal when he handed him a cheque. 

Image: Channel 10.

"We went out and took him for a bowl of pasta and after the lunch, we handed him an envelope. He said, 'What’s this?' We said it’s your first royalty cheque for all the records you’ve sold," he explained. "And he took out the cheque, and it said, 'Guy Sebastian, one million dollars'."

"I’d never done it before and never done it since, but it was a special moment to give him a one million dollar cheque over a bowl of pasta," he continued. 

The success of Guy's debut single, 'Angels Brought Me Here', was not just a chart-topping song but was in fact the highest-selling single in Australia in 2003. It went platinum five times. 

When asked how the singer spent the money, Dicko recalled Guy telling him: "He went, 'I'm going to buy a tinnie [boat] and take my brothers fishing. I went, 'Yeah, good work'."

To date, Guy is one of the most successful recording artists to ever come out of Australia. All in all, he's received 34 ARIA nominations, released 10 top 10 albums and achieved 23 top 20 singles. 

He married his wife Jules in 2008. The pair have known each other since they were 12 years old and they attended the same church. In fact, we saw her in Guy's very first Australian Idol audition clip. She also sings and auditioned on the same day, but didn't make it through to the next round. 

Guy and Jules Sebastian (far right) at the Australian Idol auditions. Image: YouTube.

They began dating in 2000 but not long after Guy won the competition; the pair broke up and he dated a few people in between including Delta Goodrem. 

But in the end, it was his wife who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

"I went back to Jules because I knew she loved me for who I was," Guy told 60 Minutes.

"And so I flew to Adelaide, and I said to her, 'I'm famous now. I could be with supermodels and that, but do you want to get back with me?' And she said, 'Yes, of course'."

"I mean, what an offer," Jules, who was sitting next to him, laughed in response. 

Guy and Jules Sebastian in 2007. Image: Getty.

The pair share two children together; Hudson and Archer.

The secret to their 23-year-long relationship comes down to their friendship, Guy previously told Mamamia.

"I'd love to put [our relationship] down to myself, but I'm lucky with Jules. She's very easygoing and supportive, we just hang out, we're really good friends above anything else," he said.

"I think it's the key... you can get through a lot of other things if you're good mates."

Jules is a stylist, author and presenter by trade. The couple also runs The Sebastian Foundation together. They partner with charities and help families suffering from illness, living in poverty or experiencing domestic violence.

"The Sebastian Foundation came about quite organically, and I always wanted to have something official where we could make an impact. I hate the term 'give back', but I'm constantly exposed to people who go through so much in life, and just in my fan base, the plethora of things that people face from domestic violence, depression sickness... and now we're geared towards mental health, which is more in our sphere really," Guy told 9Entertainment.

Listen to The Spill, Mamamia's daily entertainment podcast. Post continues after audio. 

20 years after winning Australian Idol, Guy is still in shock he was able to pursue music.

"I was never that kid that grew up dreaming to be famous. It didn't seem like a viable option – I grew up in suburban Adelaide! I was an immigrant and a weird-looking chubby kid with an afro, and it's not something I ever thought would be possible," he told 9Entertainment.

"To think that I would ever think that I deserved to meet Oprah or perform to huge audiences, I think that's the moment that it's all done for me."

Guy served as a judge on The X Factor for five seasons, has been a coach on The Voice since 2019, and was Australia’s first representative at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015.

Feature Image: Getty/Ten/Mamamia.

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