He might be used to early morning wake-up calls, but even Kyle Sandilands can admit that being woken up at the crack of dawn by a baby is brutal.
“The radio is on holidays, so now it’s my turn for the early mornings – since I’ve had four months of no early morning requirements at all,” the new dad explains when WHO speaks with him during his summer break from KIIS FM’s The Kyle and Jackie O Show. “So much for the holiday – I’ll have a holiday when he’s 15!”
The 51-year-old welcomed his first child, Otto, with fiancée Tegan Kynaston last August. And it seems fatherhood has brought out a whole new side to the radio shock jock.
“We’ve done tummy time, we’ve played,” Sandilands tells WHO of his morning with the 5-month-old. “He thinks he can stand now, but really I’ve got my hands under his armpits.”
But while fatherhood might have softened Australia’s original mean-guy judge, Sandilands still has plenty to give when he returns to the Australian Idol panel this year. “I used to just be a bit of an a—hole, but I think even the radio show’s changed over the years,” he admits.
“You get a bit more of the whole person now, rather than just 20 per cent of the a—hole side. I’m still a bit of an a—hole though – don’t get me wrong!”
EXCLUSIVE: Ricki-Lee talks returning to the Australian Idol stage where it all started
What were your initial thoughts about going on Australian Idol again?
Well, I told my management, because we get TV offers all the time – different networks, different shows, showing up on someone else’s show or doing your own show. And I was like, “Nup.” I like TV, but radio is enough for me … I said, “The only thing that would get me back on TV is Idol.” So then that was what they came knocking with, and I said, “That sounds totally worth having a chat about.” The judging panel I thought was pretty important as well. So I was very keen to do it, but I wanted to make sure that it was going to be great.
Are you enjoying working with the other judges?
I am! Everyone brings something a little different from the industry to the table. It’s not just all artists telling everyone how f–king wonderful they are and kissing each other. [In the show] even the girls can be quite tough. Like, they’re not rude, obviously, but they are very, very honest, which I really like. And Harry [Connick Jr.] is very good at explaining technical stuff, even though when I tell him he’s the technical judge, he sort of baulks at it. Even though that’s all he does is judge on the technique and the key changes. It’s very good though because for years, I just thought it’s either s–t or I like it, I didn’t really know all the bits and bobs. But he would get up every now and then, and give them a musical example of where they’ve gone wrong and fix them on the spot. So I thought that takes a certain skill to be able to do that … It’s good that you’ve got a different lens with every judge.
And you and Meghan [Trainor] get along quite well?
We enjoy each other’s company a lot. We tease the other two a little bit. We make fun of Harry a bit because he’s a bit of an old stick in the mud. But I like him. He’s not as fun as I would have liked. And I think I’m a bit too much fun than he likes, but I don’t give a f–k. He’s very respected, make no mistake, but I’m going to be me just like he’s going to be him. And I think the best of both of us comes out. And the girls are excellent in their own right. Meghan gives me the odd jab every once in a while … but you’ve got to have a little bit of fun.
You’ve been a judge many times before. Has your approach to judging changed over the years?
Yes, I think it has. I think that I’m a bit more empathetic than I used to be. I think that a lot of my empathy was cut out in the early years, but then there wasn’t that much even then to cut out. I used to be like, you sink or swim. You’re either killing it or you’re f–ked and you can leave. But I have changed my opinion on that. As you get older, you realise there are a lot of different types of personalities, different types of emotions that people get affected by for different reasons – what I might get affected by, someone else may not be and vice versa. That sort of maturity is good, I feel that I can read people better – if they’re very nervous or if they’re covering a sore throat or something. I used to just destroy them, “You’re gone, you get the hell out.” That’s changed. I can still be a bit of an a—hole, as required. But mainly I’ve enjoyed myself. I’ve laughed at people and I’ve cried at people.
How’s fatherhood going?
Really good. I never had that desire, you know, “Oh, I wish I had a baby.” I was always work, work, work, work. But when Tegan got pregnant, I was thrilled. I was over the moon – quite excited and nervous. And I remember when we brought him home from the hospital, we looked at each other and I said, “F–k, we should have bought a book or read a book, or something like that.” I couldn’t believe it, here we were at home with a baby. But she’s been amazing.
Has fatherhood changed your perspective on things?
Yes, you know I watch the news at night and if there’s something about a kid or some sick kid, or somebody gets run over or something terrible happened, I burst into tears. Like what the f–k is going on?! I never liked seeing it before, but it’s a very different emotion when you have a child. I was like, “Oh my God, I’ve turned into one of those people who bursts into tears every time something happens to a kid.” But I get it now. You know all the things they say, “Oh, you won’t know until you’ve had a kid!” F–k whatever, but it is true.
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