After more than 15 years in the music industry, Ricki-Lee Coulter has her fair share
of scars.
The singing sensation may
be one of the
most celebrated female pop stars
in the country,
but according to the 33-year-old, it hasn’t come easy.
Coulter has worked hard to get where she is, and she has learned some tough lessons in the process.
“For some of my career, I had the wrong people around me that did me nothing but harm,” she tells WHO during our exclusive shoot. “I was young and impressionable. I let people have more control than they should.”
One person who was pivotal in steering her back onto the right path was her now-husband and manager, Richard Harrison. The pair met not long after Coulter’s first marriage, to Jamie Babbington, fell apart and she was at her lowest point.
Speaking honestly about that tricky time in her life, Coulter also reveals what it’s like to work with her husband and her surprising new role as host of Australia’s Got Talent.
You’ve been in the industry for so long but you’re still so young. Do you feel like you’ve lived a thousand lives?
Yes, I feel very old. When I think back on the last 15 years, Idol was 2004 – that’s 15 years ago! I grew up in front of Australia. I went through my awkward late teen, early 20s stage. You go through that, you make mistakes, and I went through things very publicly. You’re getting judged and criticised and then you might change something a little bit. And then all of a sudden people are like, “Who are you? You’re not allowed to change like that.” And I’m like, “What? I’m just being myself.” And then you’re dealing with everyone’s opinions, so I learned very early on, to not take people’s opinions personally.
One of my favourite quotes is, “If you don’t know me personally, I won’t take it personally.” Your friends and your family and the people in your life know you. Their opinions are what matter. That’s what I value, not someone who’s just slinging s–t on a wall. Just because “everyone’s allowed to have an opinion”, I’m just not going to spend my time worrying about it and being upset about something that doesn’t matter.
That’s such a difficult lesson to learn! How did you figure all that out?
When I met Rich. He’s a very wise person and I think I learned a lot from him about
focusing on what’s important. I don’t think I was like that in my 20s. I was just going through the motions and living. I’d been through some real s–t. But meeting him, he taught me to celebrate the good and focus on it and hold onto it, and do everything you can to keep cultivating it.
How is it working together and being married?
I feel we really are a team and working together is a great thing. Lots of people find it very interesting – they ask, “How can you be in a relationship and work together?” But we just complement each other so well, both in a relationship but in a working capacity as well. He challenges me beyond belief. He probably believes in me more than I do. Sometimes, I truly don’t believe I can do something, and he’s like, “You can.” And I’m like, “I can’t!” And then I’m doing the thing, I’m abusing him saying I can’t do it, and he’s like, “I told you.”
Pick up the brand new issue of WHO for the full interview!
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