“Kyle knows what the gig is. It is a family show.”

Next year Australian Idol will return to Seven, after an absence of 12 years on television.

Excitingly, Seven has confirmed Live performance shows in February, following the audition tour which has been criss-crossing the country.

Amongst its panel is returning judge Kyle Sandilands, dumped by Network 10 in 2009 for comments he made on radio which did not align with the show’s family values.

Infamously working on radio with a “dump” button in case he says something offensive, how confident is Seven that Sandilands will behave in Live shows?

Some sources suggest he has already “mellowed” as a new doting dad, but the radio host insists he is there to “keep it real.”

Angus Ross, Chief Content Officer of Entertainment at Seven told TV Tonight, “Kyle knows what the gig is. It is a family show. And it’s a big swing for us in Q1 to try and attack Married at First Sight next year, and really offer up a counter programming alternative.”

Sandilands is joined by Harry Connick Jr., Meghan Trainor and Amy Shark, with OG judge Marcia Hines stepping in as a guest for Trainor who had some overseas commitments (a plan that was in place before stories suggested the panel lacked diversity).

Rumours suggest former judges Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson and Mark Holden will also make guest appearances as the show leans into nostalgia for its return.

Seven is hoping the revival will replicate the return of American Idol on ABC network.

“It’s now ABC’s biggest demo show 18- 49 show. It’s bigger than Grey’s Anatomy. So it’s a huge weapon for them. And we’re hoping for similar things here,” said Ross.

It will also retain its twice-weekly episodes, both Live, as per the former Australian Idol on 10.

While the revival was announced in 2019, Seven was forced to hold off its return due to the pandemic with border closures and no crowds.

CEO James Warburton reveals, “Everybody said ‘You’re never going to make it.’ We were always going to. A lot of the production decisions that we made over the last two years we had to, for various reasons.”

Now to be hosted by Scott Tweedie and Ricki-Lee, will the show also conclude with an Opera House finale?

Seven isn’t ruling anything out.

“We don’t need to make that decision for some time,” said Warburton.