Kylie Minogue‘s three-part docuseries KYLIE landed on Netflix with a bombshell health admission in the final minutes.
The Padam Padam singer emotionally revealed she’d battled a second primary breast cancer in 2021, which was picked up during a routine checkup 15 years after her first cancer battle.
But it wasn’t the only thing we learned in the incredibly raw and honest journey, which covers her nearly 40-year career.
In the series, the Australian-born international icon charts her start as an actress, including her breakout role in soap Neighbours, before turning into the pop star who sold 80 million records.
But the transition wasn’t easy for Minogue, with the now 57-year-old admitting the constant criticism and need to pigeonhole her as an artist was a lot “to cop” as a 19-year-old.
”I was insecure and uncertain,” she admitted.
“I remember hearing clangers that were really public … being mean … to be 19 years old and having to cop that, that was unpleasant.”
People would say “you can’t do both” and Minogue couldn’t understand that, saying, “Tell that to Dolly and Cher and Barbara and see what they have to say about it”.
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“I don’t like to be trapped, I don’t like to be in a box and I was those early years,” she noted.
Also adding to her struggles were statements comparing her to a “human crocheted scarf” or calling her “boring”, comments sister Dannii Minogue said “you would never say now and get away with it”.
Former partner Jason Donovan, who appears in the series, also spoke about how Minogue “really struggled” with the backlash, saying he didn’t know how to handle it at the time.
He said things like, “Well, maybe you shouldn’t have gone down that route, because that’s sort of how my attitude was”.
In promotional materials for the docuseries, Minogue said staying the course in the face of the criticism she faced is one of the proudest moments of her career.
“In those early challenging days, I knew I hadn’t proved myself,” she said.
“I simply hadn’t had a chance. I was successful before I knew what I was doing, so I basically learnt everything on the job, in full view of the public.
“So, I’m proud that I stayed the course, I’m proud I took risks.”
And those risks ultimately paid off especially with her return to her pop roots in her Spinning Around era, at a time she was ready to quit the industry if it didn’t work.
Minogue says watching back the three hours of her evolution over the last 40 years was “like an out-of-body experience”.
“It was interesting seeing how much I have changed as I’ve matured, how I have evolved as a performer and surprisingly, how much I haven’t changed,” she said in promotional materials.
“Baby Kylie had a determination and a passion, just like I do today.”
This wasn’t the only insight the I Should Be So Lucky singer gave fans. Here’s everything else we learned from Kylie:
Minogue postponed chemotherapy for IVF
Minogue spoke, not for the first time, about her unsuccessful attempts to have children after delaying her chemotherapy in 2005 to undergo IVF.
She was dating French actor Olivier Martinez at the time and photos of the couple during that time flashed up on screen as she spoke about the experience.
“There’s so much more to cancer than just, ‘You had it, you got through it, you’re fine or you’re fine for now’,” she said after finding lyrics she’d penned for her possible child.
“I was 36 when I got my diagnosis so … already you need to be thinking about children.
“So I did try, I postponed my chemotherapy to try, which was quite scary at the time because I just wanted … you just want it out, gone. I want to feel safe.
“But yeah, I did try a few times with IVF. Always with such a thread of hope, but I couldn’t not try.”
The singer underwent her breast cancer chemo and radiotherapies in Paris, ending up in ICU at some points during treatment.
Sister Dannii recalled that time was tough for the whole family, even with her mum by her sister’s side.
“We didn’t know if she was ever going to be well again, it was that bad,” Dannii said.
“Like, is she going to live through this? I just felt so helpless, there was nothing I could do for her.”
The irony, Dannii added, is that growing up she didn’t think she’d be a mother, whereas Kylie always wanted to be one, and it’s turned out the opposite in their lives.
The Minogue sisters’ parents have never done a sit-down interview but appeared in this seies for a poignant relfective scene around a campfire.
Michael Hutchence was ’my person’
Minogue spoke fondly of her relationship with INXS frontman Michael Hutchence, before labelling him “my person” and admitted she’s spent the rest of her life looking for a love like theirs.
“You go on and live your lives but it was definitely an amazing point in time and I’ve probably been looking for something like that ever since and I haven’t got it,” she said.
The couple dated for two years between 1989 and 1991 and Hutchence died six years later, in 1997.
“It might seem disproportionate, the emotion and the memories I have with him and with that time, but I just felt protected and nurtured and valued and believed in,” she said, getting emotional.
“I remember being at the church and it was overwhelming, the outpouring of love for him. It’s going to sound totally crazy but I felt him saying ‘It’s okay. It will be okay’. I always feel he’s with me. It’s kind of crazy but I do.
“You can have relationship with, as I have had, relationships with different people but someone that really just believed … believes in you so much.
“Here’s an important point. He really didn’t want me to be someone else for him. He was encouraging me to discover me.”
In promotional materials for the docuseries Minogue added that Hutchence’s impact has been life-long.
“I was 21 when we met – and I was really impressionable. And I mean that in the best possible way. He just had such an impact on me,” she said.
“He was a smart, kind, deep, artistic and interesting human and we went on this beautiful journey of a relationship.”
But, she still has ‘a lot of love’ for Donovan
The close bond shared by Minogue and Donovan is undeniable – and both say just as much in the docuseries.
“We were fresh out of high school, so it was that sweethearts sort of romance,” Minogue said of their romance in episode one.
But Donovan felt it was more serious, saying he thought a life and family with the singer “was my destination”.
“Did I ever think we were going to get married? The truth is – yeah. And have kids and that’s the script written, and off you go,” he said in the series.
Home movie footage from their holidays together is seen for what’s believed to be the first time and when Minogue watched it “for the first time my heart swelled”.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, we were just babies’. That brought back tidal waves of nostalgia, emotion, and a lot of love.”
Donovan has been a source of support for Minogue over the years, despite their difficult split almost 40 years ago.
The former Neighbours co-star even attended the London premiere for the new docuseries on Monday night, alongside both Minogue sisters.
However, in the docuseries, he aired his frustration of being asked about his famous ex almost on a daily basis.
Minogue calls best friend ‘real saviour’
The soap star-turned-singer credited Hutchence with helping fill her with confidence and finding her own voice in both her personal life and her professional image.
She said it was fellow Aussie singer Nick Cave who convinced her to return to her pop roots when her short-lived indie artist phase didn’t pan out.
But it was someone else Minogue labelled her “real saviour” – photographer Kat Jebb who became her best friend during her first time living in Paris following her split from Hutchence in 1991, at the age of 22.
“She was a real saviour to me and I started to feel good and confident as a woman on my own,” Minogue, now 57, said, adding Jebb was the first photographer to really capture her authentic self.
The pair became “firm friends” in two weeks and part of the docuseries interviews were filmed at her house.
She’s been such an incredibly solid friend – we’ve had times where we lost touch but we’ve always come back together,” Minogue said in promotional material for the docuseries.
“She’s someone that I feel nurtured by and so incredibly lucky to have these beautiful images celebrating our friendship.”
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