Hold onto your sock pals, because Ian Dicko Dickson’s name isn’t really Dicko. Yup, it’s just a stage name. What’s more, this 60-year-old bloke’s actually called Ian Ross Perrygrove.
Yet, it makes sense that Dicko adopted the name Dicko. After all, anyone with the last name Perrygrove would be roasted on Aussie public radio. It’s just the way things work.
Now, at this point, it’s worth mentioning that Dicko has done more than score a stage name. This dude actually worked in the record industry for 20 years before deciding to become a television personality. Since transitioning into TV, he has been a judge on both Australian Idol and Australia’s Got Talent. Better yet, he has also won a season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia.
In 2023, Dicko is on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! As of April 12, he hasn’t been eliminated.
But this guy’s ambitions don’t stop there. He’s played himself on multiple scripted series. These programs include the likes of Beekeeping, The Beekeepers, and Offspring.
Yet, before we all jump aboard the Dicko hype train, he hasn’t always been a stellar guy. In 2003, he fat-shamed a Fijian-Australian singer, Paulini Curuenavuli. Dicko slammed her for a gold dress she wore on an ep of Australian Idol.
In this program, Dicko said, “You should choose more appropriate clothes or shed some pounds. I’m sorry.”
In some good news, this created some backlash. You should never speak to anyone in this manner or shame someone for their weight.
Fortunately, Dicko has since recognised that this behaviour was yikes. And he’s even discussed it on I’m a Celeb.
When talking about how Australia has normalised fat-shaming women, Dicko said, “I’m one of the villains that brought us here, and I can’t change that.”
“I’d like to have learned from it… I certainly don’t have the slightest inkling of bailing someone up for the way they look these days.”
After this episode of I’m a Celeb, Curuenavuli might have addressed Dicko’s comments.
Curuenavuli posted on Instagram, “Give me eyes that see the best in people, a heart that forgives the worst, and a soul that never loses faith.”
Related: Meet the Cast of ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’ 2023
Related: Here’s Where ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’ Is Filmed
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