Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson has expressed his regret about trying to out Anthony Callea as gay while they were filming season two of Australian Idol in 2004.
Callea, 40, recently made headlines with the release of his memoir Behind The Voice, in which he claimed the controversial judge, 60, wanted him to come out on live TV.
Confirming the singer’s claims on The Kyle And Jackie O Show on Thursday, Dickson said he regrets putting Callea in such an uncomfortable position.
‘I could clearly see he was gay and I kept pushing him and saying, ”Look, we’ve worked with artists and boy bands where they have been gay members, but they’ve had to keep it quiet’,’ he explained.
”If you come out to us, we are your record company, we can help you have the life you want to lead and keep it quiet. But it’s better if we know.” And he just wasn’t ready to give that up,’ he explained.
Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson, 60, (pictured) has expressed his regret about trying to out Anthony Callea, 40, as gay while they were filming season two of Australian Idol in 2004.
Dickson admitted it ‘wasn’t up to him to make Callea come out’, but insisted that he had good intentions.
‘I love the gay community and I don’t understand why anyone would want to hide that. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t my job – it wasn’t up to me when he came out, so he was absolutely right to comment [in his memoir],’ he said.
In his autobiography Callea recalled how Dickson, ‘seemed more concerned about my sexuality than I was’ and tried different tactics to force him out of the closet ‘as part of the show’.
Callea (pictured) recently made headlines with the release of his memoir Behind The Voice , in which he claimed the controversial judge, 60, wanted him to come out on live TV
Confirming the singer’s claims on The Kyle And Jackie O Show on Thursday, Dickson said he regrets putting Callea in such an uncomfortable position
‘One night, right after I’d finished my performance, the judges were giving their comments, and Dicko said something along the lines of that he saw my target audience as being ”grannies, girls and gays”, which I guess was his way of throwing the ‘G’ word out there (alongside some others),’ Callea wrote.
He went on to say Dickson ‘didn’t get what he wanted’ despite his relentless pursuit to fuel the rumours which circulated at the time.
Despite the uncomfortable situation he found himself in, Callea said he received plenty of support from other contestants, judges and staff members on the show who helped him brush off Dickson’s comments.
In his autobiography Callea recalled how Dickson, ‘seemed more concerned about my sexuality than I was’ and tried different tactics to force him out of the closet ‘as part of the show’
Nevertheless, after almost two decades, the Australian Idol runner-up said he forgives Dickson for his actions and believes he had the ‘right intentions’.
‘I get that times and social temperatures change, and in hindsight, it was not out of the ordinary behaviour from him,’ he said.
‘He still gave me constructive critiques, which mostly I agree with, no matter how much they were driven by the theatre of the show,’ he added.
In 2021, the former Australian Idol judge painted a slightly different picture when he spoke on the TV Reload podcast about Anthony’s homosexuality during his stint on the singing competition.
He claimed he told Callea, who was just 21 at the time, he could help him hide his sexuality despite the hitmaker insisting he wasn’t gay.
The singer said Dickson ‘seemed more concerned about my sexuality than I was’ and tried different tactics to force him out of the closet ‘as part of the show’. (Pictured: Dickson on Australian Idol)
‘We all knew Anthony was gay and I remember saying to him, ”look, mate, we’re going to be your record company and we can help you live the life you want and shag who you want and keep a public persona for your career if that’s what you choose,” Dicko said.
Dickson insisted he just wanted to ‘reach out’ and help Callea, but admitted he should have let the music artist come out in his own time.
Callea confirmed his sexuality in 2007, three years after placing second to Casey Donovan on season two of Australian Idol.
In 2014, he married actor Tim Campbell in New Zealand after seven years of dating.
Nevertheless, after almost two decades, the Australian Idol runner-up said he forgives Dickson for his actions and believes he had the ‘right intentions’. (Pictured: Callea performing on Australian Idol)
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