Twelve months on from the highs she experienced as a teenager on Australian Idol, Perth singer Gisella Colletti’s entry into adulthood as a professional artist has not been without its challenges.

After finishing top 3 in the reality series in April 2025, Colletti said returning to school at 17 following months living out her dream brought with it a range of unexpected emotions.

“I guess a lot of the emotions that I went through, I kind of had to push to the side, because I knew that I had a goal and I had to get to where I wanted to be,” she told PerthNow.

“And so I kind of ignored those feelings coming out of the show, and I actually went to speak to someone at my school, and they completely supported me and and they knew what to do straight away to help me.”

Feeling much more comfortable in her own skin today, with support from family and her mother who’s taken on a managerial role, Colletti’s will to succeed has only grown.

In October, she released her debut single Good Enough, and in November, she and fellow Idol alumnus William Le Brun dropped a cover of Christmas classic All I Want For Christmas Is You in a tribute to Colletti’s heroine Mariah Carey.

After months carving her own path without Idol’s guiding hand, the emerging star caught up with the show’s co-host Ricki-Lee Coulter in January while in town performing at Australia Day celebrations in Langley Park.

Flying in on a red eye, departing on one, and juggling several media commitments in between, Ricki-Lee laid out the demands of such a competitive career choice.

“She kind of just said, ‘this life never stops. It’s quite on the go and and a lot of people don’t have it in them. And if you really want this, Gisella, you have to be on your A game all the time,” the singer recalled.

Turning 18 in April, still very young by industry standards, Colletti has heeded Ricki-Lee’s advice and is gaining speed.

She performed at Optus Stadium for the Eagles’ 40th anniversary celebrations earlier this month and the Wildcats Ball, adding to a host of arena performances and community events already under her belt this year.

This includes the recent Telethon Giving Breakfast at Crown Perth which was one of her “favourite events” so far this year.

“It was such an honour performing for the kids of WA and catching up with the 2025 Little Telethon Stars,” Colletti said.

“I’ve performed at Crown that many times I feel like I actually live there haha!

“Crown is amazing, it’s one of my favourite venues I’ve performed at.”

Not many can say they’re regularly billed to perform for thousands at her age.

However, with adulthood comes new distractions and sacrifices.

She concedes, when friends extend an invitation to go out for drinks, it often poses another question: is it worth it?

“I have to prioritise my voice, I have to prioritise my my life around my opportunities and the gigs that I have,” Coletti said.

“So I can’t obviously do a lot of the things that my friends do, but this is the life and this is the career that I want to have.”

In a full-circle moment, the emerging star was afforded the opportunity to re-connect with her Idol family last month in Sydney to support the latest crop of hopefuls.

Upon hearing Kesha Oayda’s crowning moment play out at the finale, she said, “it was like we were there, basically on that stage”.

That familiar rush had returned, and with it, an opportunity to check-in with her former contestants to gauge if their emotional journey had mirrored hers.

“I guess it’s a very specific situation that we had all been in together, not many people can help you and relate to what you’ve been through,” she revealed.

“So I guess coming back, it really brought us together and made us closer.”