AUSTRALIAN Idol survivor Damien Leith sold more than $5 million worth of records when he won the 2006 crown but had to sell his car to pay the rent.

The popular family man, whose new single To Get To You has returned him to radio playlists for the first time in three years, has revealed he did not receive any of the proceeds from selling more than 300,000 copies of his The Winner's Journey record.

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According to industry sources, Leith and his runner-up Jessica Mauboy were victims of fine print in the standard contract signed by contestants, which specifies that the Idol creators 19 Entertainment and local producers Fremantle Media own the rights to their performances on the show.

The The Winner's Journey records, released by SonyBMG, compiled those performances, leaving Leith and Mauboy without an income from their "debut" records.

The following year, winner Natalie Gauci re-recorded her Idol songs for The Winner's Journey to avoid the same fate.

But by the time Wes Carr won last year, the concept record _ designed to give the winners time to record their real studio debut record _ was abandoned.

Leith, who worked as a chemist before being dared to audition for Idol by two mates, said there have been "patches" since his win when he considered going back to his day job.

He and wife Eileen re-mortgaged their home in 2006 so he could chase his dream for the three months he needed to devote to the series.

Once he won, they believed there would be income from the sales of The Winner's Journey, which was recognised as the Highest Selling Album at the 2007 ARIA Awards.

But when his lawyer gave him the bad news that the contract didn't grant him any royalties for the compilation, the Leiths were left with no choice but to sell their car to pay their bills.

After three years of "fighting", Leith still doesn't know where the estimated $3 million profit from The Winner's Journey sales went.

"For the first few months after the series, we were really stressed about what was happening; we thought money from The Winner's Journey was going to come through and it didn't, basically I didn't get paid," he said.

"In fairness, in the months that followed the fanbase came to the shows and we got a couple of really nice guardian angels along the way who helped us out. Sony gave me an advance when they knew we were doing it tough without me asking for it.

"But it was tough, it wasn't what it was painted out to be."

Leith said he didn't know what to tell family and fans who approached him after his Idol win telling him they had bought 10 copies of The Winner's Journey thinking they were helping support him, his wife and baby boy Jarvis. They now have a second son, Jagger.

"Fans would come up at signings and say `I bought two copies because you really gave us all this entertainment'," he said.

"It's in the past. I would be lying to say I wasn't really angry about it; I hate the fact it was done and it's not what the show is advertised to do.

"Guy [Sebastian] got his million-dollar cheque two years earlier for his debut record, photographed with it and everything.

"You put your life on the line for the potential release of an album and making a career and that's the risk you take."

The singer and songwriter has released two records since _ studio album Where We Land and covers album Catch The Wind _ and has kept his career alive and bills paid by touring.

But it is his fourth album, Remembering June, which is released on October 9, which he feels is the record he has dreamed of making for the past 16 years.

"I've bitten my tongue so many times but I'm not worried about it any more because I've got this new album and it means so much to me. This is the first real album," he said.

To Get To You is set to put Leith back on top as it was the second most added track to radio playlists last week and features on a Channel 7 promotion for their new hospital drama Mercy.