Three seasons into hosting Australian Idol, Ricki-Lee Coulter is already being noticed by TV execs as the next Sonia Kruger.
In her third season of fronting Australian Idol, Ricki-Lee Coulter continues to impress TV execs with her hosting skills.
In TV corridors Coulter has been generously referred to as the next Sonia Kruger for her ringmaster ability with all the moving parts of Live television.
While she first stepped into a hosting role in Australia’s Got Talent, there’s no crash course in learning hosting skills at this level.
“I never thought I was going to host a TV show. That was never on my bingo card,” she tells TV Tonight.
“It just kind of fell into my lap. The people that were the executive producers of AGT were producers on my season of Idol and they know me really well, and they just said to me, ‘You have to host this show. You have to do this. No one else can do it, I’m not taking no for an answer.’
“I kind of terrifyingly, but not begrudgingly, said ‘Okay!’ closing my eyes, bracing for impact.
“I don’t know how to host a TV show! But it went amazingly and we filmed a couple of seasons of that. Unfortunately, COVID kind of got in the middle and two seasons got halted at the last minute. But then Australian Idol came back around and they said, ‘Ricki come on!’”
Coulter hosts alongside Scott Tweedie on the Seven show which moves into Live to Air episodes as of next week.
“I’m so glad I said yes, because I do love doing it. But you’re right, there is no training ground for hosting a TV show. There’s no school you can go to, or course you can do, to learn how to do this,” she said.
“It’s real life experience that you have to have. I think maybe having been on stage for 25 years, I’m used to being under lights and under pressure and stress and I manage to be comfortable in those situations. I know I’m faking my way through it, but I’m enjoying it and having a great time, and I love that I’m a part of the show that changed my life. I’m very lucky.”
Australian Idol screens Sunday – Tuesday on Seven.
