Kyle Sandilands has rubbished claims that he is gearing up to leave his Australian Idol hosting gig.

Woman’s Day reported that speculation was ‘rife’ that Sandilands, 53, would not be returning for the 2026 season of the Channel Seven reality series. 

The publication claimed that his three-year contact with idol had now ended and that ‘producers are concerned that [his] priorities had shifted’.

The publication also claimed that Sandilands was stepping down from his Idol role due to his recent brain aneurysm diagnosis.

It was all news to the shock jock however, who told Daily Mail Australia that there was no truth to the rumour.

Sandilands said that the only correct course of action is for the publication to pay reparations to readers.    

Kyle Sandilands has rubbished claims that he is gearing up to leave his Australian Idol hosting gig

Kyle Sandilands has rubbished claims that he is gearing up to leave his Australian Idol hosting gig

‘I’m calling on the editor of Woman’s Day to do the right thing and refund the $5.99 to every single reader who bought this week’s edition of the magazine,’ Sandilands said.

He added that he would happily accept an apology from the publication.

‘I’ll graciously accept Woman’s Day’s apology for the false report. I’ll also promise not to sue them, this time,’ Sandilands joked.

A spokesperson for Sandilands, further rubbished the claim adding: ‘Kyle’s not on a three-year deal, nor has his contract expired’.

The rumour of Sandilands’ departure appears greatly exaggerated, especially given that he confirmed to Daily Mail Australia this week that he is locked in for another season.

‘They’ve already booked in the dates, I think, for next year,’ he said.

‘So Marcia [Hines] says to me on the desk, last Monday night, she goes, “Did they tell you about the new dates?” And I went, “Of course! They f**king told me about the new dates a month ago”.’

Sandilands, who first joined Australian Idol in the early 2000s, claims this new era of the show is only thriving because he had a say in who came back – and who didn’t.

Woman's Day reported that speculation was 'rife' that Sandilands would not be returning for the 2026 season of the Channel Seven reality series. Sandilands is pictured with Marcia Hines and Amy Shark

Woman’s Day reported that speculation was ‘rife’ that Sandilands would not be returning for the 2026 season of the Channel Seven reality series. Sandilands is pictured with Marcia Hines and Amy Shark

‘Where’s Harry Connick, Jr? Not here. Amy [Shark]’s here now. Marcia’s here now,’ he said.

‘When we put this together, Channel Seven CEO Jeff Howard came and met me. We had lunch and I knew that he was like romancing me to come back to TV, but I was done with TV.

‘Then he said, ”I want you to come back to TV.” And I said, ”I’m not really interested.” And he said, ”what if we bring back Idol?” And I said ”oh, very interested only in Idol”.’

Kyle also said the original judging panel nearly looked very different.

He revealed the 2023 Australian Idol panel was set to feature an international star-studded affair – until plans fell through.

Harry Connick Jr. was brought in to fill the spot, but Kyle said he always felt the show needed to be homegrown.

‘It was gonna be me, Amy Shark, Meghan Trainor and Snoop Dogg,’ he said.

‘But Snoop was having some visa issues, then we nearly got 50 Cent, but he’s got film companies and stuff now so we couldn’t marry up the time.’

'I’m calling on the editor of Woman’s Day to do the right thing and refund the $5.99 to every single reader who bought this week’s edition of the magazine,' Sandilands said

‘I’m calling on the editor of Woman’s Day to do the right thing and refund the $5.99 to every single reader who bought this week’s edition of the magazine,’ Sandilands said

The controversial host also addressed Australian Idol’s ratings battle with Channel Nine’s Married At First Sight and why he’s not been talking about the dating show on The Kyle & Jackie O Show.

‘We talked about MAFS probably five years ago. I’m just not as into it. I know it’s still quite popular. Still though it [always] wins the night,’ he admitted.

‘I even brought it up with Channel Seven. I was like, ”why would you put it up against Channel Nine’s biggest show?”

‘They said, “We’re not gonna just surrender and put episodes of Gilligan’s Island on we still need to have a sexy current cool product for their advertisers”.’

‘A lot of people don’t want to advertise in MAFS because of the style of content of show.’

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk