Ricki-Lee was born in New Zealand in 1985, and moved to Queensland Australia just a few weeks after she was born.During childhood, Ricki-Lee became interested in netball, and was heading towards a career in the sport, when a serious knee injury ended her potential career. While in high school, she started to shine in performing arts and singing.
She auditioned for the second series of Australian Idol in 2004, and quickly became the crowd favourite. Then, in a strange twist of events, she was voted out by the public in 7th place, much to the outrage of the judges. During her time in Australian Idol, she performed some memorable songs, including "Proud Mary", "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough", and Olivia Newton Johns hit "Hopelessly Devoted To You".
Despite being voted off early in Australian Idol, Ricki-Lee was offered a record deal from Sony BMG. However she declined this deal and signed with Shock Records. In 2005, Her first two singles ("Hell No!" and "Sunshine") both reached the Top 10 in Australia, and her self titled album debuted in the top 30.
In 2006, Ricki-Lee, along with Australian Idol contestants Paulini, Emily Williams and Kate DeAraugo, joined the Young Divas project, whose album reached #4 on the Australian charts. However, in 2007, she announced that she would be leaving the group to continue her solo career.
In August of last year, Ricki-Lee released her second solo album, titled "Brand New Day", which has since reached gold album status.
Ricki-Lee married her childhood sweetheart, Jamie Babbington, in September 2007, and they currently live on the Gold Coast in Queensland.
Ricki is now locked in to co-host Australian Idol 2008, along with James Mathisson and Andrew G. She says that she is thrilled to be returning to Idol, the very place that launched her public profile and her music career.
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