Australian Idol judges Kyle Sandilands and Harry Connick Jr. continue their long-running feud

Kyle Sandilands and his fellow Australian Idol judge Harry Connick Jr. have continued their high profile beef during Sunday’s episode of the singing contest. 

The pair traded barbs as they clashed over contestants as it was revealed that the top six will all be subject to a public vote ahead of the finale episode. 

While radio star Kyle insisted the singers should pick songs that viewers will love, Harry encouraged them to challenge themselves and take risks. 

Kyle critiqued singers for deciding right at the end of the contest, ‘Oh, let’s do something different’ and said it made him ‘panic’. 

Harry countered that ‘respectfully’ Kyle didn’t understand what he was talking about. 

Kyle Sandilands (pictured) and his fellow Australian Idol judge Harry Connick Jr. have continued their high profile beef during Sunday’s episode of the singing contest

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‘This is what I understand. You show up in a Ferrari not a Datsun with some mag wheels on it’ Kyle interjected, before warning the singers not to try and ‘impress’ Harry, but to think of audiences instead.

‘This is a place where you sing to win. You win the record deal, then you go and you do your airy fairy artist party stuff,’ he insisted.    

Kyle recently lifted the lid on his ‘feud’ with the American crooner on the reality show. 

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Sandilands, 51, insisted the rivalry between the two was genuine. 

‘It’s not bulls**t. There’s no drama really. It’s like, you know when someone just doesn’t like you, you can tell?’ he explained.

Kyle critiqued singers for deciding right at the end of the contest, ‘Oh, let’s do something different’ and said it made him ‘panic’. Harry (pictured) countered that ‘respectfully’ Kyle didn’t understand what he was talking about

‘This is what I understand. You show up in a Ferrari not a Datsun with some mag wheels on it,’ Kyle interjected

‘Maybe it’s because he doesn’t run around and praise me, which I don’t expect him to, like it’s tongue in cheek, but he’s at one end and I’m at the other.’ 

Sandilands insisted he doesn’t ‘hate’ the singer, but suggested that they aren’t close because they ‘don’t really get to spend a lot of time together’.  

‘He’s flat out. I’m super busy. It’s not a rivalry or any drama… It’s just not close like Meghan (Trainor) and I.’

Sandilands and Connick Jr. are joined on the Australian Idol judging panel by local pop sensation Amy Shark and US hitmaker Meghan Trainor.

The rivals are joined on the Australian Idol judging panel by local pop sensation Amy Shark (second from the right) and US hitmaker Meghan Trainor (second from the left) 

Sandilands previously revealed that he and Connick Jr. had a major ‘blow up’ over the phone, and that the pair are no longer on speaking terms. 

Speaking to KIIS FM stablemates Will and Woody, Sandilands said he got the feeling Connick Jr. never liked him, so things were ‘prickly’ between them from the start.

The rivalry came to a head when Sandilands blasted Connick Jr. in an interview for ‘going on about the pronouns’ of the contestants which resulted in a tense call. 

‘I just thought “what a flop” and hung up. That was it. Friendship over,’ Sandilands said.

The pair no longer speak off-set and it’s unclear whether the judges’ spat will affect either one of their appearances on the show in the future.

Sandilands revealed that he and Connick Jr. had a major ‘blow up’ over the phone, and that the pair are no longer on speaking terms