Paulini: Australian Idol’s infamous 2003 ‘fat shaming’ moment goes viral

Australian Idol’s notorious ‘fat-shaming’ incident from 2003 has been blamed for causing a generation of women to suffer from body-image issues.

Footage of the moment judge Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson told contestant Paulini Curuenavuli to ‘choose more appropriate clothing and shed some pounds’ went viral this week, prompting a wave of outrage from women on social media.

Paulini was just 21 at the time, and had chosen to perform her song in a show-stopping gold dress.

Celebrity podcast Shameless posted the footage to Instagram on Tuesday, and captioned it: ‘This is why every millennial woman has body-image issues now, episode two: that time Australian Idol was actual trash.’ 

The post was soon flooded with comments from women, including outspoken celebrities such as feminist author Clementine Ford.

‘It’s wild how much this was just the norm then,’ Ford wrote.

Remember this? Footage of the moment judge Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson (pictured) told contestant Paulini Curuenavuli to ‘choose more appropriate clothing and shed some pounds’ went viral on Tuesday, prompting a wave of outrage from women on social media

Backlash: The video, uploaded to Instagram by the Shameless podcast, was soon flooded with comments from women, including outspoken feminist author Clementine Ford (pictured)

Disbelief: ‘It’s wild how much this was just the norm then,’ Ford wrote 

‘I mean, it still happens obviously. But it was so blatant then. No wonder we all hated ourselves,’ she added. 

Former Gogglebox star Evie Jones agreed: ‘I hated this moment so much! I thought (and still do) @paulini_curuenavuli looked absolutely stunning in this dress.

‘Record labels have so much to answer for. Men would make comments like this constantly to female artists. Hideous and dangerous.’  

Outraged: Former Gogglebox star Evie Jones agreed: ‘I hated this moment so much! I thought (and still do) @paulini_curuenavuli looked absolutely stunning in this dress’ 

Unimpressed: Model and influencer Steph Claire Smith commented with a facepalm emoji

Take THAT! But it was Paulini herself who had the last laugh, commenting: ‘And I’ve made many gold dresses look even better since that night in 2004’ 

Model and influencer Steph Claire Smith commented with a facepalm emoji. 

But it was Paulini herself who had the last laugh, responding: ‘And I’ve made many gold dresses look even better since that night in 2004 [sic].’

Paulini, 38, told Woman’s Day in 2014 that Dicko’s words affected her tremendously at the time, admitting: ‘[It] really hurt my confidence.

‘I went backstage and started sobbing.’

Rattled: Paulini, 38, told Woman’s Day in 2014 that Dicko’s words affected her tremendously at the time, admitting: ‘[It] really hurt my confidence. I went backstage and started sobbing’

She later told news.com.au Dicko would never have been able to get away with his comments in today’s landscape.

‘I think it has changed a lot. There’s no way anyone could do that today. People would just be outraged. There’s no way,’ she said.

‘And anyway, they shouldn’t be able to; these are often young kids standing up there being judged [on talent shows]. We have so many problems with young girls who don’t think they’re skinny enough.

‘There’s so much pressure about this mould that you have to fit into – it’s all crap.’ 

Dicko expressed regret over his remarks in 2017, saying: ‘I was trying to be nice at the time, can you believe. But I’m glad [Paulini has] gone on to do such great things.’

‘There’s no way anyone could do that today’: She later told news.com.au Dicko would never have been able to get away with his comments in today’s landscape

Sorry… sort of: Dicko expressed regret over his remarks in 2017, saying: ‘I was trying to be nice at the time, can you believe. But I’m glad [Paulini has] gone on to do such great things’