Australian Idol runner-up Iilysh Retallick, from Culcairn, with the brand new van judge Kyle Sandilands promised to buy her if she didn’t win the reality television singing series. Photo: Supplied.
Australian Idol judge Kyle Sandilands has made good on his promise to buy Culcairn’s rock queen her own van if she didn’t win the 2025 reality television singing show.
The now 18-year-old Iilysh Retallick thought she was off on a trip to the snow with her boyfriend John Van Beek when the new wheels rolled up outside the Culcairn bakery while the couple were having breakfast on 30 June.
“We had to wake up at the crack of dawn and I thought we had to get on the road as soon as possible in my old Corolla,” Iilysh told Region Riverina this week.
“John said we’d stop at the bakery to get some brekkie and, to be honest, I was getting a bit impatient to get going … then the next thing you know all these KIIS FM people came running in and Kyle was on the other end of the phone.
“He said to me, ‘Do you remember the promise I made to you?’ and then they were showing me the new van. It was so exciting and I will never forget that moment.”
It was during the 7 April finale for the 2025 show that Kyle threw in a shock announcement on the back of fellow judge Amy Shark telling Iilysh that no matter who was crowned the winner, she should “get a band and get on the damn road!”
With Gisella Colletti and Marshall Hamburger also competing for the title, Kyle told the then 17-year-old Billabong High School student he could play her on the radio tomorrow.
“And you know what, if you don’t win I’ll buy you the van to go touring in,” Kyle vowed.
And that’s exactly what he did – the seven-seater LDV MIFA the perfect people mover for a band and all her gear, according to a clearly delighted Iilysh, who said she planned to get on the road and put it to good use shortly.
The popular Idol contestant, who won hearts across the country with her big voice and even bigger bond with her hometown, said she planned to move to Melbourne to chase her dreams at the end of the year.
“Melbourne is where the industry and all the music is,” she said.
For now Iilysh is still living at home and working in her casual job but revealed she had made the extremely difficult decision to leave school in her final year.
“It was a tough decision but at the end of the day I want to focus on my career in music – and strike while the iron is hot,” she said.
“Everything has started opening up; some days I can’t believe it’s all happened.”
The next exciting project on this bubbly young woman’s horizon is recording her new single. And while she can’t give too much away, Iilysh hints it’s a “very modern rock song”.
She’s also booked to sing at the Albury Winter Glow event on Saturday, 9 August.
Reflecting on her Australian Idol journey, Iilysh said she felt grateful for the new friendships formed during the show and the ongoing support that has flowed from the Culcairn community.
“I can’t believe I got to know such awesome people,” she said. “And of course I met (fellow contestant) John (who finished in the top eight this season).
“But after the show finished I loved coming home and reconnecting with everyone.”
Asked which of her Idol performances stands as a favourite, Iilysh said it was hard to go past the experience of performing Joker and the Thief with Andrew Stockdale from Wolfmother.
“But I’m still most proud of my audition – because that’s what got me to this point,” she said.
“That’s the step that opened the door to make all of this take off!”
