Kylie Minogue is opening up about being diagnosed with cancer for a second time — 16 years after her first battle with the disease.
“My second cancer diagnosis was in early 2021,” the pop star said in her new self-titled Netflix documentary that begins streaming on Wednesday.
“I was able to keep that to myself,” she added. “Not like the first time.”
Her first battle with cancer
In 2005, Minogue, 57, was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, a battle she fought in the public eye. She was forced to postpone her tour and delay chemotherapy to undergo IVF treatments. By 2006, she announced she was cancer-free.
Keeping diagnosis to herself
Following her second diagnosis, Minogue opted to battle the disease privately. She admitted in the doc that she struggled “to find the right time” to reveal the news at a time when she was going through a bit of a career resurgence with her 2023 Grammy-winning 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,” Minogue said.
“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,” she continued.
“And I really just wanted to say what happened so I can let go of it. I’d sit through interviews and every opportunity I thought, ‘now’s the time,’ but I kept it to myself,” she admitted.
“Thankfully, I got through it, again, and all is well,” the “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” singer added.
Early detection and recovery
Minogue revealed that she received the second cancer diagnosis following a routine checkup and has since made a recovery. “There will be someone out there who will benefit from a gentle reminder to do their checkups,” she said. “Early detection was very helpful and I am so grateful to be able to say that I am well today.”
Love of music got her through it
She added that her love of music helped her during that difficult time, and it even inspired her song “Story,” which was released on her 2023 album Tension. “I needed to have something that marked that time,” she shares of the track in the doc.
Minogue added: “Hey, who knows what’s around the corner, but pop music nurtures me… my passion for music is greater than ever.”
