In 2008, Mark Holden was fired from Australian Idol. This is what he did next.

It's been 20 years since Australian Idol first hit our TV screens.

Plenty of singers found their start there - Anthony Callea, Guy Sebastian, Jessica Mauboy and Cosima De Vito, just to name a few - but the show's hosts and judges were just as iconic.

One of them was Mark Holden. 

The Australian singer, songwriter and music producer had already experienced quite the career in the entertainment industry before the show. 

Then when Australian Idol began in 2003, viewers grew to know Holden for his legendary 'touchdown' move.  

Watch: A look back at one of the iconic Australian Idol 'touchdown' moments. Post continues below. 

Now with the reboot in full swing, Holden tells Mamamia that the fact that his signature catchphrase has been turned into a gimmicky button is "very disappointing".

So what's the former judge been doing since the show?

Here's what Mark Holden's life looks like now, 16 years after finishing up on Idol.

From touchdowns to barrister.

Before music, Holden had been pursuing a career in law.

When he was 17 and looking into university courses, he said that law was the main thing he felt qualified to get into. 

In his final year of the degree, however, he was offered a record deal. And it wasn't until years later, in 2000, that Holden returned to his studies and graduated. 

"When I was fired from Idol, I took a year off in 2008. I figured I had a degree so I should do the course you needed to do for your practical training and did that," Holden told us.

"Then while I was waiting in line at the Apple Store to get my daughter an iPhone in 2009, there was another father there waiting. He happened to be a barrister and for the next hour he convinced me that I ought to be a barrister too."

That same year, Holden was diagnosed with thyroid cancer after discovering a lump on his neck. 

He feared he would never sing again as a result of the treatment and surgery. Speaking to The Age at the time, Holden said he'd lost 80 per cent of his vocal range.

Despite that, he passed the requirements and courses to become a barrister.

In the first few years working in law, Holden recalled it being an adjustment.

"It was pretty intimidating at the start," he said.

But over the course of the next decade, he found himself doing some interesting work - helping people at a time in their life when they were particularly vulnerable. 

"I ended up for 12 years doing duty barrister work at the family violence court, and developing a practice in that area as well," he told us. 

"I really enjoyed it, but I'm pretty much over it now."

Mark Holden today. Image: Facebook.

While Holden continues to be a barrister, he said at "any moment now" he's going to ask the barrister bar to put him on the retired list.

"I couldn't get detached from it," he said. 

"The people who do this job for life must find a way to detach themselves [from the hard cases] because people only come to barristers because everything else has failed."

In the meantime, the singer has returned to fostering his passion for music.

"I've gone back to making music again," he said. 

"I just co-produced an album with Richard J Frankland - a Gunditjmara elder. He has a new single out called 'Who Will Sing My Songs'. It's been really meaningful, because as it turns out my great, great grandfather was an original dispossessor of Wathaurong country. The music we've made is a cultural custodianship story." 

"So it's been an incredible journey for me at the tender age of 68 to learn this and have the opportunity to work with Richard," he added.

Although Holden had a career change, music has remained a constant in his life.

"It was great to have this opportunity to be a barrister. I met some good people, I think I did some good work," he said.

"But I'm so glad I've had music throughout my whole life. But on the other hand, it's an entirely different business than the one I left 15 years ago."

Fortunately for Holden, making music for him now isn't about generating money.

Thanks to songwriting copyrights from decades ago, he's continued to receive residuals - some of which helped him buy his home.

"I have a song on Tom Hanks' film Splash, which they use my demo on. Because I was a member of a union in America, I still get residuals for that," he said.

"For 40-something years, I've received these cheques from Disney. In Australia that same practice doesn't apply, and that's something I'm advocating for - because more musicians deserve that."

Mark Holden on the Australian Idol reboot and walking down memory lane.

These days, Holden said he doesn't get recognised much in public, but people often remember his voice. 

Speaking to us about the reboot, he said that he wasn't consulted on it and no one's been in touch with him since it's gone to air.

Viewers of the show would have noticed the touchdown button though.

Back in the day, Holden's first time doing the 'touchdown move' was after watching Cosima sing Cold Chisel's 'When The War Is Over'. 

It was a spontaneous catchphrase that was an immediate hit, and soon became a staple after a particularly show-stopping performance. 

"It's been very disappointing to me the way that's been handled. I'm not thrilled, they've turned it into a gimmick and it's just so appalling," he said.

Mark Holden and his fellow Australian Idol judges. Image: Network 10.

"It's disrespectful as well, not even having the courtesy to even consult me or asked me. 

"It's something I created, and it does belong to the zeitgeist. But the way they've now used it feels like a corruption of it. 

"It was a natural expression of seeing somebody do something amazing."

Despite that, the singer reflects fondly on his Australian Idol experience.

"Everyone who was involved in the show, Marcia and Dicko, we might have fought or whatever but even the guys who were hosting it, everybody loved the music," he recalled. 

"It's such a beautiful part of our lives." 

Feature Image: Network 10.

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