Kylie Minogue was diagnosed with cancer for a second time in early 2021, the pop star has revealed, after being diagnosed and successfully treated for breast cancer in 2005.
The Australian singer spoke about the ordeal in her new Netflix documentary, Kylie, which was released to the streaming platform today (20 May).
“My second cancer diagnosis was in early 2021,” she said. “I was able to keep that to myself… Not like the first time.”
Minogue, 57, said she struggled to find “the right time” to disclose her treatment, including when she was promoting her hit 2023 single “Padam Padam”.
“I don’t feel obliged to tell the world, and actually I just couldn’t at the time because I was just a shell of a person,” she said in the emotional scene. “I didn’t want to leave the house again at one point.
“Padam Padam opened so many doors for me, but on the inside I knew that cancer wasn’t just a blip in my life. And I really just wanted to say what happened so I can let go of it. I’d sit through and every opportunity I thought, ‘Now’s the time,’ but I kept it to myself.”
During her first diagnosis, when she was 36, the “Spinning Around” star suffered enormous press intrusion, as the family home was surrounded by paparazzi and medical staff were offered money to take photos of her.
Minogue was also forced to cancel the remainder of her Showgirl greatest hits tour and withdraw from her 2005 Sunday headline slot on Glastonbury festival’s Pyramid Stage, in order to undergo treatment in Melbourne.
Of her second cancer diagnosis she remarked: “Thankfully, I got through it. Again. And all is well.”
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She revealed that her 2023 song “Story”, from her album Tension, addressed that difficult period in her life, as she sings: “I had a secret that I kept to myself… Turn another page, baby take the stage.”
“I needed to have something that marked that time,” she said.
She added: “Hey, who knows what’s around the corner, but pop music nurtures me… my passion for music is greater than ever.”
Minogue finally got to play Glastonbury in 2019, in a triumphant performance on the Legends Slot.
Her career continues to go from strength to strength: she had a Christmas number on last year with her single “Xmas”, while the accompanying album Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped) also topped the charts.
The Kylie documentary is out now on Netflix in three parts. Along with the pop star herself, it features interviews with her younger sister, Dannii Minogue, and former duet partners Jason Donovan and Nick Cave.
