Return of Dicko, Idol warrior

December 01, 2006 12:00

IAN "Dicko" Dickson marked his return to the Australian Idol fold yesterday, assembling alongside co-judges Mark Holden, Marcia Hines and Kyle Sandilands for the new-look panel's first set of publicity photographs.

While the entertainment industry was abuzz with news of Dicko's reinstatement on the 2007 series of the talent quest, the man of the moment and Channel 10 both went to ground - only issuing a "no comment'' when pressed for information.

However, industry insiders revealed Idol's awesome foursome congregated for the first time for a friendly re-meet and greet in front of the cameras for the Ten publicity team.

Two years after he defected to Channel 7 citing boredom with talent shows, the Pom personality will kick off the new year with a fresh contract with Idol, which was responsible for catapulting his TV popularity.

Dicko pocketed a cool $1million for signing a two-year deal with Seven at the end of 2004 - but his roles hosting reality programs My Restaurant Rules and Celebrity Survivor failed to score the public touchdown he had generated as the "nasty judge'' on Idol.

"It wasn't a snap decision - he had an intense love affair with Idol and he would have made the call based around the commercial benefits,'' a Seven spokeswoman said yesterday.

"He made a lot of mates here and he leaves with our best wishes.''

Dicko recently spoke of his struggle to present to camera in a scripted format, saying he'd realised his on-air talents were best displayed in a reactive and spontaneous environment.

Dicko will return to Australian Idol in 2007 / The Daily Telegraph

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/stor...22049,20849073-