Dannii Minogue's Biography

Dannii is the younger sister of Kylie Minogue. Their brother Brendan became a news cameraman.

Dannii Minogue has had numerous hit singles and albums, has appeared in West End musicals as well as performing Shakespeare in the Edinburgh fringe, has been a DJ in Ibiza and is a judge on Australia's Got Talent and on The X Factor in the UK.

As early as seven, in June 1978, Dannii Minogue was acting on TV on a series called Skyways, and she soon followed up by being a regular on the popular variety show Young Talent Time for nearly six years.

Like her sister Kylie, Dannii Minogue had a part in the Australian soap The Sullivans, but whereas Kylie featured in Neighbours, Dannii Minogue starred in another Australian soap, Home and Away, as Emma Jackson.

The period of 1989 and 1990 was a busy one for Dannii Minogue. Not only was she picking up awards for her acting, but she launched her singing career.

Her debut single Love And Kisses reached number 4 in Australia.

Again mirroring Kylie, Dannii Minogue left Australia to come to England and pursue a music career.

In March 1991, Love And Kisses was released in the UK and reached number 8.

The 1990s saw several further releases from Dannii Minogue and a few non-musical credits were added to her CV. In October 1995 she was featured in an 8 page spread in Australian Playboy, upon which The Guardian quotes her as saying: "My grandma called me and said I looked beautiful."

Dannii Minogue also gained various presenting credits including several stints co-hosting The Big Breakfast.

In the 1990s as well as her music, which notably included the single Who Do You Love Now, Dannii Minogue amassed an interesting collection of acting credits including as the lead Esmeralda in Notre Dame De Paris, as Rizzo in Grease as well as playing Lady MacBeth in an Edinburgh fringe production of MacBeth.

At the end of 2006 and the start of 2007 Dannii Minogue was chosen to be a judge on two Simon Cowell programmes: Australia's Got Talent on Channel Seven in Australia and The X Factor on ITV in the UK.

Dannii Minogue told The Guardian about her fellow X Factor judges:

"I flirt and fight with Simon. Sharon I just adore, and Louis is very warm, very kind, but once he gets something in his mind you can't change it, so he is really good to have an argument with."

Dannii Minogue had a short-lived marriage to Home & Away co-star Julian McMahon, the son of the late Australian Prime Minister, William McMahon. The marriage ended when Dannii discovered that McMahon, who went on to play Dr. Christian Troy in Nip/Tuck, had been unfaithful.

Dannii Minogue has been engaged to Formula 1 star Jacques Villeneuve and also had a relationship with Bros bassist Craig Logan.

In October 2009, Dannii Minogue apologised after making a comment about the sexuality of a contestant on The X Factor.

In January 2010 it was reported that Dannii Minogue and her boyfriend rugby player Kris Smith were expecting their first child.

In 2010 ITV2 commissioned a new series entitled Dannii Minogue: Style Queen with behind the scenes coverage of her and her best friend Tabitha Somerset Webb launching a fashion range Project D.

In July 2010 Dannii Minogue gave birth to a baby boy, Ethan Edward Smith.

In May 2011, it was revealed that Dannii Minogue was stepping down as a judge on The X Factor.

In December 2012, it was announced that Dannii Minogue would be a judge on Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model, broadcast on Sky Living.

In September 2016, the BBC announced that Dannii Minogue would be one of the judges on the new show Let It Shine.

In July 2017, the BBC revealed that Dannii Minogue earned over £200,000 from licence fee revenue in their financial year 2016/7.

In 2023, she became the host of the BBC Three show I Kissed a Boy.

In 2024, she became host of I Kissed a Girl on BBC Three.