I remember just kind of putting my hands together going, “Please, just give me one song.” Hair started growing back. It was very exciting. It was like a miracle. I used to have simple dreams. Now I’m just way too complicated for my ; Oh, good. ; And I’m not made of plastic, that’s for sure. ; [snorts] ; Sometimes I wish I was.
It would be a lot easier. ; There’s something pretty remarkable about young Kylie Minogue. She is the biggest since the Beatles in Europe. She won the Gold Logie at the age of 19 and has sold millions of records. Magazine editors would kill for a cover photo. Take a poll and you’ll find Australians just love Kylie or hate her with a passion.
Radio stations declare themselves Kylie-free zones. Gossip columnists write her off as the singing budgie. Well, the budgie’s feathers are ruffled. Meet the new Kylie, the movie star who said, “To hell with the old wimpy image.” ; I mean, I’m not stupid. If I was stupid, I don’t think I would have got this far. It’s the press that are saying that I’m manipulated and not that I’m dumb.
I mean, it’s a wonder they’re not saying someone’s standing over there telling me what to say in this interview. So, stand by ; At first glance, there’s not much to her. Small and chirpy, a bit like the dreaded budgie, in fact. ; I’ve just turned 21. A lot of the time I feel 31 and I look 15, so God knows where I am.
; Whatever you think of Kylie Minogue, give her this. She shines on camera. A quality which has made her a star and public property. ; I guess I never appreciated privacy before I lost it. ; Tell me, what do you dream of? What do you dream of doing? ; What do I dream of? Just holidays probably.
[laughter] Having a 2-week break. ; ; No way. Kylie Minogue Proprietary Limited rolls on. She has to finish this, her first movie, The Delinquents. Next, her second album, then the promotion tours. And somewhere in between, she’s got to do something about that image. ; I’m blonde, I must be dumb. I was in a soap, I’m a singer.
; Why do you think it suits people to see you as a bimbo and to portray you as some kind of bimbo? ; Because it’s easy and then I’m not a a threat to them. ; It’s the plastic’s in the room, isn’t it? I mean, they think you’re the plastic person. ; Well, I’m not made of plastic, that’s for sure. Sometimes [snorts] I wish I was, it would be a lot easier.
; Sometimes though, it is a close plastic pop, the sort that sets the Minogue haters’ teeth on edge. A modest talent hyped by huge publicity into a hit machine. ; It’s a game and I’m fully aware of that. I use them and they use me. And then you’re right to complain, aren’t you, having a a winge? Because in fact, that is the game.
I think they’ve had more fun than I have, that’s the only thing. Because unfortunately, it’s gone too far with me and I can’t stop it. What I think is that I’m incapable of showing emotion, I think that I’m just this little thing that that constantly whimpers instead of being aggressive or being sad or anything, but I cry and I sometimes I’m strong, sometimes I burst into tears.
I’m actually I’m very emotional, I’m hopelessly emotional. And I mean, God forbid when I have PMT, you wouldn’t want to come near me. I’m horrible. ; That hasn’t hit the headlines yet, but just about everything else has. Great stories, few facts. Some of them have been real doozies. ; The reason I’m anorexic is because in my past life I died of starvation in the potato famine.
; What’s have been your favorites? ; I’m an alien. Can’t you tell? ; What’s another favorite? ; Oh, I’ve broken up Guy Pearce’s marriage. I’ve had affairs with all sorts of people. ; The thing is, and you know, everyone wants to know like if we’re having this big affair off off screen ; Already you’re meant to be having an affair.
; Oh, I know. I read some of the tabloids. ; It had to happen. Leading man in torrid romance shock. Her American co-star Charlie Sheen’s been in Australia just 6 weeks. Long enough for him to take sides in the Kylie press war. ; Some of the press, you know, is just unbelievably stupid.
It’s just It’s just too bad that they that they don’t give her the the credit that she’s due. ; Doesn’t matter what I do. Wouldn’t matter if I did the best performance in the whole world. It wouldn’t please them. It’d be What a lot of crap. What’s she done that for? How terrible. ; Brisbane in the ’50s, when good girls wore floral dresses and bad girls had backyard abortions.
Kylie plays a bad girl. ; [laughter] ; This thing is obviously broken. ; In this state we call that vandalism. ; The machine wasn’t working properly. ; I’ve been here some. ; You new around here? ; So? ; What’s your name? ; Lucille. ; There were other movie offers. Most of them Ramsey Street Revisited.
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She chose The Delinquents to prove she could do it. She could be more than just another soapy starlet. ; Well, I wanted to do something that is a complete break away from Charlene and Neighbors and television. Most of the films I didn’t even read. I had my manager read them because I just didn’t have time.
But ; What did he report back to you? I mean ; Just not worth it. No. And I don’t didn’t want just to be in it to have my name on it to get the bumps on seats. ; You were hired in a sense for your fame and your name, weren’t you? ; Yeah. ; To get bumps on seats. ; Yeah, but also with a good script so that it’s a two-way deal then.
; From there ; You move from there whenever you want. The camera’s waiting for you. ; Director Chris Thompson has a dozen movie and mini-series credits. Kylie Minogue has none. So, he wasn’t expecting miracles. ; I’ll take the baby. ; She sort of switches on on the camera and the crew does like that. Any professional likes that.
; What, so you have been pleasantly surprised? ; Oh, overwhelmingly surprised. We all have. The entire crew is in love with her, I think. She’s She’s stunning. ; I’m pleased that they’re surprised, but also you think oh What did you expect me to be? ; It took Kylie 10 years to become an overnight success.
Starting way back when she fluked a role in The Sullivans. She was still at primary school. ; Please, they are my friends. I want to stay with them. ; Do you do you have a laugh at yourself and think you know it’s an amazing thing that’s happened? ; Yeah, and I laugh at myself because I I was so unconfident at school.
I was never in a school play. I was never in school athletics. I was always like the runt of the litter. ; I was the fun. I was so ; They were best friends at school, Kylie and Danni. They’re still a gang of two, the Melbourne office girl and the international star. It’s a rare chance to catch up on the latest gossip and to disprove two of the Minogue myths, that she’s anorexic and that she’s a prisoner of her minders and bodyguards.
; I don’t I don’t even like minders. I don’t even like people saying, you know, if if you want to go shopping, just give us a call cuz we can look after you. I don’t like all that. It’s it’s hard enough trying to stay normal as it is without having people pushing you this way and that way. I get so uh so uh closed up by it all and I just have to say hey, go away, leave me alone.
I I need some space to myself. ; 120. It’s it’s got 5.1 g in 9 karat. ; I haven’t got any money on me. Um how much money have you got on you? Probably about 80 dollars. ; This is not to say that Kylie Minogue Proprietary Limited is strapped for cash. The hit machine is also a money machine, generating about $50 in her first year of pop.
Her share, they say, was more than 5 million. Not that Kylie’s giving too much away. ; Honestly, I don’t even know how much money I’ve got. I’ve got a rough idea, but I couldn’t tell you. ; Millions, obviously, but ; Well, I don’t even know. ; Mhm. ; But I wouldn’t tell you anyway. Um but it doesn’t matter.
I still, if I’m in the supermarket, I’m so fussy at Well, that’s 3 cents extra, I’m not going to get that. ; You’re a cheapskate. ; I am the best in the sale bins. You look out. ; And the most popular Victorian personality goes to Kylie Minogue. ; And the winner is Kate. ; And it is. It’s Kylie Minogue with Locomotion. ; ; It should have been her greatest triumph, last year’s Logies.
; The winner is Kylie Minogue. ; [cheering and applause] ; They just kept coming, for her and for Neighbours. The public’s appetite seemed insatiable. And though it’s only now she’ll admit it, Kylie felt it was devouring her. ; It’s just been a a wonderful year, and um I hope I can keep it up.
I mean, I was on everything, and I I was sick of seeing myself, so I thought, the poor public, how are they going to cope? It’s overkill. And that’s when the public turned against me. But because I was contracted and I couldn’t stop, I had to keep going. ; Did you ever think, I just want to toss it all in, I don’t need this? ; I would have loved to, but I couldn’t.
; The final glittering prize, the gold. ; Kylie Minogue. ; That one really sucked. I had nice speeches prepared and Oh my god. Um ; Around that time, you were almost close to having a nervous breakdown. You were right at the edge. ; That’s true. ; What kept you back? ; Well, probably because I was so sick that I actually had to have a day off and and gave me a few minutes to stop and think about what the hell am I doing? I felt like I didn’t want to do this.
I thought what am I doing here? I I would rather have a little shop, which is what I’ve always dreamed of doing, and having a little holiday house, and getting married and having kids. I thought that would be so easy. Why can’t I just do that? ; And this is as you’re getting the Gold Logie. ; [laughter] ; Well, or just after I got that, actually.
Uh and there was just so much pressure from so many different people. ; You’re being torn apart. ; Yeah, I’m being pulled this way and pulled and could you do this, Kylie? Oh, and could you also like wallpaper the wall on your way over to that room and um do an interview when you get there? And you know, I just had to say well, stop. ; Did you actually sit there at that time and think, this is insane.
I have got everything and I ; I have everything, but I have nothing. It’s true what they say about that. ; It was that close. But, like an addict, she’s back for more. 12 hours a day, 6 days a week on the movie set. Would you know how to get off the treadmill, anyway? ; I find it difficult to adjust, but I’ve always known and I’ve always held on to this thought that it might end.
I’m the sort of person that would like to be bus driver and work in a nursery. I’d like to sort of ; Come on. ; No, I’d like to do everything. It’s true. ; Do you still have the dream of opening the shop and getting married and having the kids and all that stuff? ; Definitely. ; I’ve got to find the right man in the right place.
; [music and singing] ; Which brings us to this guy, Jason Donovan. For viewers who’ve been trapped in Siberia for 2 years, he married Kylie in Neighbours. And their off-screen relationship has become the most tantalizing soapy cliffhanger of them all. ; [music and singing] ; What is the status now of Jason? I mean, are we at the good friend stage? A boyfriend? ; The boyfriend.
; perhaps a boyfriend. ; Yeah. ; You can pick anyone. ; Guide me. ; It It worked out to be the best publicity either of us could ever have dreamed up. Uh and now it’s just a running game and I think why end it because it’s just It’s so ridiculous. You don’t need us to to keep that carrying on anymore. ; It It doesn’t need to.
; It goes on its own. ; When will we know, Kylie? ; You better stay tuned, Jennifer. I don’t know. ; ; I could let this affect me and it could bring me down and I could end up thinking this is a horrible life I’m living. Why do I have to work so hard? And I hate doing interviews and I hate all these people asking me for autographs.
I could really look at all the negative sides, but I’m staying on top of it all. ; An effort of will. ; Yeah. Yeah. ; On the basis of “Never let the bastards get you down.” ; Exactly. ; Kylie Minogue is always surprising us by her success, how long it’s lasted, and by the scale of her popularity around the world.
But are we ready for the new Kylie, the sultry bare-all sex kitten. Ms. Minogue, famed as the sweetheart of Neighbours, then as the cutesy-pie pop singer, is about to bring out a glossy picture book so raunchy that our advanced copy of it was seized by customs. The national symbol, as Clive James calls her, has made a career of reinventing herself, and along the way remained one of Australia’s biggest export industries.
When you meet Kylie Minogue at home in London, you instantly realize why it’s taken her so long to be taken seriously. She’s just too normal, too nice, too easy to get along with to radiate that star quality. ; And do you do all the London things? Do you do the horse riding in Hyde Park and all that stuff? ; Never been on a horse in Hyde Park.
; You haven’t? ; No. ; Been up to the top of Big Ben? ; No. ; Good lord, woman. What have you been doing for 10 years? ; Oh, just a little bit of work here and there. That’s all. ; What Kylie Minogue has been doing this past decade is bit by bit wearing down her critics. Until now, it’s finally okay to say out loud you’re a Kylie fan.
Under piles of gold records and sellout concert tours, she’s buried all but the bitter memory of being so long dismissed as the singing budgie. ; It’s I think there’ll always be the tiniest little spark within me that’s angry about that time. ; Has it made you tougher? ; It’s It’s hard for me to think about that.
; Yeah, it’s hard. ; It’s hard for me to understand. ; must be part of who you are in the sense of you must be a different person as a result of all those experiences. ; That’s the little spark that I mentioned. ; Looking back, it seems Kylie’s great sin in the eyes of so many was the apparent ease with which she cast off her soap opera past to become a singer.
Worse, to record meaningless ditties that happened to become huge hits. There was a point at which you really seemed to annoy people. Have you ever sat down to try and analyze why that would be? Well, I think now that I know how difficult it is to have a number one single. I mean, I went into that music industry and had number one, number two, number one, number one.
And now I know that the work and the time and energy and so along comes this I see. There’s a chick from an Australian soap opera and everything’s going her way. She’s having so much success and she doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing and I could I could understand I mean, I meet people now I say, “I’m still really annoyed you years ago.
” I said, “Hey, if I was you, I would have annoyed me as well.” I am not twerking. Those same critics are now Kylie admirers. Now even London’s smart set have lined up to contribute to her new book. Another famous expat, Clive James, was even moved to poetry. A soul pure beyond measure lights up our living treasure, appreciated highly our national symbol, Kylie.
And you like this man. Actually, contacted us afterwards and said, “Um, is she okay with it? Did, you know, I think because of the whole small thing.” Saying, “Kylie, it’s great. I love it.” The other one that’s in here is Diamond Rich and he she says, “I hardly recommend her to any film company that cares to employ her.
Her typing skills are terrible. But she’s a real star and I adore her. ; Bless. ; Now, how did you get these two grand old men with their own complicated egos? You know, they’re eating out of your hand. How did you do that? ; Well, I’ve met both of them and I was so excited to meet Barry Humphries.
So, I asked him about it then and ; He said, “Yes.” ; Yeah, and he had a really I basically said, “Not only can you do it can you do it by tomorrow?” ; She’s nice, isn’t it, Kylie Ann Minogue? ; But as Kylie tells it, there was a fee. Performing on stage in London with every Australian’s nightmare, the Humphries character Sir Les Patterson.
; With a lovely young woman like that. ; And Sir Les became very, very naughty. And um you know his appendage. ; Yes. ; Made its first public appearance. But I didn’t see it. I was running to the other end of the stage screaming. ; We’re we’re talking flashing. ; Yeah. ; Yeah. ; Yeah. ; In a public place. ; In front of a few thousand people.
Like I say, I didn’t see it. I missed it. ; Are you laughing about this? This wasn’t This was funny. ; Yeah. ; Judging by her book, it takes quite something to shock Kylie Minogue. Although a good few others have already been shocked by what the book contains. Especially shots of the much photographed Miss Minogue as she’s never been photographed before.
Did you know that this book was seized by customs in Hong Kong? ; I think I was the last person to I’m the last person to find out so many things. Yeah, which is a shame because that puts an angle on the book which is really not what it’s about, you know. I feel comfortable with nudity. ; How does that come to be so? ; I normally blame it on being Australian.
When you do those kind of sessions, it’s not like you’re prancing about starkers around the studio. You kind of get in position and then take the final bit of clothing off and pretty much the people there see the photograph that that you end up seeing. So, it’s all it’s all done tastefully, I think.
Or, you know, as so as not to embarrass anybody. But, I know, I just don’t mind. ; Kylie says this book is part of the process of coming to terms with who she is. Instead of being embarrassed about her Neighbors days and those early songs and early stage performances, it’s her way of celebrating that she’s come out the other end of it all.
And her way of thanking those like Michael Hutchence who helped her along the way. ; Aw, I just think it’s beautiful picture. And his eyes in photographs still look like they’re looking at you. I think it’s beautiful. That was a photo session that I was doing and he was there, so we stood a picture together.
; Mhm. Does it remind you of times? ; Yeah, but don’t want to go into that. Leave me alone. ; It’s hard to talk about? ; Mhm. ; Here. Kylie is quite ; And I I don’t know. What I what I have to say is I couldn’t say in an interview. I’m not May- maybe I will one day. I’ve I’ve already spoken about um you know, my my reaction after his death.
But, you know, he’s he’s around and I know he’s taken care of me. And that’s all that matters to me at the moment. ; From the first day I saw her, I knew she was the one. She’s ; Some of Michael Hutchence’s close friends are still taking care of Kylie. ; You know, ; The alternative rock musician from Melbourne, Nick Cave, has lent her not only support but credibility.
; bloody and wild. ; I did not come back to ; He’s the antithesis of me. He’s a It’s a supremely cool guy. It would be And who I mean, that’s why it was such an amazing union as well that people go, “I’ve just got to hear this song. I’ve got to know what this is about.” ; On the third day, he took me to the river.
He showed me the roses, and we kissed. ; It was he who asked her to record what would become the best-selling duet, Where the Wild Roses Grow, which spun her career into a new, more sophisticated direction. ; Save me. Hey. Help. But ; It was Nick Cave also who dared her to confront her past by persuading her to read out the words to I Should Be So Lucky in front of the whole of literary London at the Royal Albert Hall.
; And when you got to I Should Be So Lucky, ; Lucky, lucky, lucky. ; Yeah, which I dragged out, of course. ; I should be so lucky. Lucky. Lucky, lucky. And then the final the final part, I I I thought my luck has got to run out. I Should Be So Lucky love. Thank you very much. ; [laughter] ; All right, staggering off the back of the stage.
; Miss Minogue from London had confronted little Kylie from Melbourne, and it was cathartic. ; It was like I met on the ; her. ; First time and said, “Okay, you know you’ve embarrassed me, but I really do love you, and all right, let’s go.” You know. ; [laughter] ; And from that point onwards, embraced that embraced my career from the beginning for better or worse.
It was like like getting married. Sorry, Bowie. That ; Okay. ; I keep thinking, “What is he doing?” It’s like it’s like having a large dog ; [laughter] ; running up against you. ; And what’s that like, Ellen? ; Kylie Minogue is a study in contradictions. An international star who behaves like the girl-next-door. An overnight sensation still going strong after more than a decade.
; A beacon for Australian performers. ; I naively thought that oh, yeah, by mid-late 20s, I’ll have baby or two. ; Hm. Do you feel like you’re running late? Do you hear a loud ticking in the middle of the night? ; Tick, tick, tick. Um like 60 minutes tick. God. Um I’m not panicking yet, but occasionally, yes, I do think, “Hm.
” Yes, must get a move on. ; At age 21, and probably no doubt feeling the the pressure of fame, you said, “I had everything, but I had nothing. I would rather have had a little shop, which is what I’ve always dreamed of, to get married and have kids.” ; My, how we change. Yeah, I used to have simple dreams.
Now, I’m just way too complicated. For my own good. Oh, where did it go? ; Kylie Minogue has been part of our lives for nearly 30 years. She first burst onto the scene as Charlene in Neighbours, the tough, smart girl from Ramsay Street who took the knocks and dished them out. Now, at 46, she’s a bonafide superstar, one of our greatest ever exports.
But there’s still a lot of Charlene in Kylie. You see, deep down, she’s still the girl from the suburbs of Melbourne. And more than ever, she’s enjoying her return to Australia. I sat down with Kylie to reflect on her extraordinary life, some incredible professional highs, and some very tough personal lows. She’s a woman of intelligence, beauty, and at peace with her place in the world.
Kylie’s old school song with some new fans. She’s back in Australia and Camberwell High in Melbourne. That’s it. Where it could have gone either way. Hello, Hall of Fame secretary or international superstar. Hopefully, some of your teachers are still here. Dropping in on her old maths master, Mr.
Frost. And the girl with a star in her eyes. Do you want TO ASK SOMETHING? ; [laughter] ; SHE’S WAY TOO YOUNG TO REMEMBER Kylie’s first flush of fame. ; [singing and music] ; It was 1986 and Australia fell for a new soap opera called Neighbours and a very new kind of soap star. ; ; How does it feel? Collect your thoughts.
A quarter of a century ago, Kylie was Charlene, a very cute, feisty suburban chick who was not to be messed with. Here it is. Ramsay Street. Good memories? ; Yeah, really good. Especially as I look up there, that balcony is where I had my very first scene as Charlene. She was trying to break into the house, trying to climb in the window.
Uh, I had this little cap on and um and Scott ; Hey! ; aka Jason Donovan. ; [laughter] ; Um finds me and and I turn around and deck him in the face. And then Madge turns up and says, “Charlene! Charlene!” ; ; July 1, 1987, Charlene married Scott in front of a TV audience of 20 million people in Australia and the UK.
When I look at you, it’s hard to see any more Charlene there except for your eyes. ; see me in the morning. See crazy hair everywhere. ; You reckon it’s not that far? ; When I release my inner bogan, yeah. ; Charlene broke out of Ramsay Street when a record producer heard Kylie at a charity show performing a little 60s ditty called Locomotion.
She was at home listening to the radio the day it hit number one. ; 8 7 6 5 4 Oh, I just thought, oh well, it’s not didn’t get anywhere. And then the announcer said, “And we’ve got a new entry at number one.” And said my name and played my song and that was our moment. ; Locomotion spent 7 weeks at the top and led to a string of hits.
Kylie was a sensation. Pure pop ; ; and strictly squeaky clean. ; ; But, the girl next door was about to meet her bad boy. In the 1980s, Australian rock had one god, and his name was Michael Hutchence. ; ; This guy was incredibly charismatic and an out and out rock star. ; Yes. I’d never met anyone like that.
I really hadn’t. And I was like probably not very cool then, and he was uber cool, and somehow we met in the middle. ; [snorts] ; I love seeing pictures from then because he was just he was so proud. ; Mhm. What did he teach you? ; Many things. ; [laughter] ; Many things. Um ways of the world. We traveled and I I just I had so many firsts with him.
It was great. ; It was an astonishing yin and yang love affair, but the petite princess of pop and the swaggering rock and roller with a legendary pickup line. There’s an urban myth. ; Give me the urban myth. ; line that he said to you. Um something along the lines of I don’t know whether to ; Okay, you’re him and I’m me.
; All right. ; Try. Okay. ; [laughter] ; No drive. I don’t have the charisma, of course, but just let me have a little go. ; Okay. You can do it. ; Okay. Um ; [laughter] ; Oh, I’m nervous. ; Okay, don’t look at me. ; I can’t be him. Okay, I’m just going to look over there at my sound assistant. ; [laughter] ; Kylie, I don’t know whether to take you to lunch or to have sex with you.
; That’s very ; [laughter] ; Did he snort at the end of it? ; [snorts and clears throat] ; That’s [laughter] another one. ; I’ve got a stitch coming on. ; So huh, ; [laughter] ; obviously he didn’t react like that. ; I’m not going to say exactly what the line was because I like that it was just between him and I, but it was something like that.
And I was probably taken aback but quite intrigued. ; But after 2 years, Michael kept to the rock star script and dumped Kylie for a supermodel. ; That was heartbreaking for you? ; Yeah, that was it was it was great love and it was true heartbreak. ; Kylie eventually forgave Michael and the two remained incredibly close after his death in 1997.
; He’s a guy worthy of celebration and the music and the way that he he was on stage. ; Yeah, he was just this kind of um expansive, all-encompassing love of life. And if you have such a a strong love and and they’re not there, um that’s that’s somehow different to having a strong love for someone where you you’ve got the possibility to to see them again or talk or you know, share more experiences.
So I miss him just as much as anyone who was fortunate enough to to share time with him. ; Kylie says she grew up with Michael. That a bit of the bad boy rubbed off on her. And with her first hit after his death, she went from pop princess to fully franked sex symbol. ; [singing] ; The The famous hot pants in the annals of music cost less than a dollar at an op shop.
; ; My 50 p hot pants stole the show basically. I thought that they should just go out and do press afterwards. All I was asked about was like, “The hot pants will be along soon and they can answer any question you have.” ; [laughter] ; Those same hot pants are now part of Australia’s cultural heritage.
; the hot pants? Are they here? ; They are. ; In the archives of Melbourne’s Arts Centre. ; Don’t drop it, Carl. ; I don’t know why there’s such a big box for this. ; [laughter] ; But this was definitely one of ; Oh gosh, it keeps going. Is this seriously one thing in this box? ; Well, they’re very tightly packed.
; Is it okay if we unpack them? ; Yes. HELLO HOT PANTS. ; [laughter] ; HERE IT IS. ; [laughter] ; IT’S GETTING HOT PANTS in here. ; Yeah, am I taking them out or you taking them out? I was a bit eager then, wasn’t I? ; Yeah, you were. You were. ; Back of it. ; Once unkindly called the singing budgie, Kylie was now soaring from hit to hit.
Then in 2005, a month into a major world tour, Kylie received some of the worst news a woman can get. ; It’s just shattering and everyone’s got their finger their fingers crossed and hoping that everything’s going to be okay. ; She had breast cancer. ; How difficult that that was.
I mean, for for any woman it’s difficult, but for you, how did you navigate through it? ; Oh boy, how did I do that? Um someone had said to me at the time, you know, “Be a little bit selfish. It’s not in my nature to be selfish, but now is the time to do that. Let people take care of you.” And um that’s what I do. ; What did you find out about yourself during that? ; Um that’s really hard to to Many things.
I know I have strength. But when you’re when you’re fighting something that Um where there’s a lot of unknown. Yeah. It’s a mixture mixture of emotions and memories. ; Kylie was 37 and had no way of knowing if she’d ever make 40. ; It is years until you really get the all clear. And by the time my hair started growing back, it was very exciting. It was like a miracle.
; When she was sick, Kylie’s fans, especially the young ones, inundated her with love. And when she gets the chance, Kylie gives some of that love back. Today, it’s the Sydney Children’s Hospital. They’re part of a new generation of fans thanks to a sensation called The Voice. [cheering] ; Showtime. ; Tonight’s a big show for Kylie.
; Cheers. ; You nervous? Are you good? ; I’m nervous and excited and good and ; Go and enjoy it. Backstage, it’s clear her fellow coaches are also fans. ; I mean, she’s always charming and she’s always fascinating to work with. ; We’ve gotten very close. I love Kylie. I love working with Kylie. Um She’s just the best, man.
She does She does you guys proud. ; to go. You’re on air. ; I got to go. ; There’s a lot riding on this performance. [cheering] After her solo tonight, she’ll announce a tour of Australia next year. The next chapter in the incredible story of Kylie Minogue. ; ; What’s next for Kylie Minogue? What’s the next incarnation? ; What is next? I keep thinking there’ll be a growth spurt, but I ; [laughter] ; That’s I keep the faith.
I don’t care that I’m 46 years old. And the rest we will see. We will see, Karl, but wherever I end up, I’ll send you a postcard. ; Although it seems as if she’s been around for as long as anyone can remember, surely it can’t be true Kylie Minogue is about to turn 50. For most of us, this showbiz idol is ageless or at least perpetually 20-something.
And to make you even more envious, she’s had correction is having a brilliant career. TV, movies, and song with no hint of waning popularity or demand. It’s little wonder Kylie’s new album is called Golden. But the singing budgie is human. A recent broken engagement led to reports she’d even had a nervous breakdown.
As Karl Stefanovic discovered, it’s tested but hasn’t stopped one of Australia’s favorite daughters. ; [music and singing] ; how to make it last. It’s rehearsal time and Kylie Minogue is putting in the effort all great singers put in to sound effortless. ; So put your hand [singing] on your heart and tell me it’s all over.
; In a few hours, this place will be packed with adoring fans, all wanting to hear the pop icon’s latest musical incarnation. A stripped-back, intimate, and deeply personal Kylie. ; This song’s about how music can save you. You know when everything’s just gone a little bit wrong. ; Woohoo! Kylie Minogue.
How are you? ; Good. How are you? ; Nice to see you. ; You too. ; Have a seat. You look beautiful. ; Well, thanks. I mean, takes a mere 2 hours. No, with chat. Much longer. [laughter] ; Very good. ; Feel unreal. ; Like the rest of Australia, I feel like I’ve known Kylie forever and in fact, I’ve been lucky enough to meet her before.
; Here it is. ; In 2014, she took me on a tour of Ramsay Street. ; That balcony is where I had my very first scene as Charlene. She was trying to break into the house. ; Charlene! ; And showed me those very hot hot pants. ; [screaming] ; But today, here in London, it’s freezing up here.
She’s much more circumspect. It’s clear a lot’s been going on both on and off stage, but not all of it’s been good. Bloody London. ; We always look at you and we always think you always look so together. Irrespective ; [laughter] ; of what’s happening. ; Smoke and mirrors usually. Yeah. ; Some real challenges for you. ; Yeah.
There’s always one or a couple. ; [laughter] ; Sometimes it feels like they’re all coming at the same time. ; Does it? ; Yeah. Um it’s well documented. I I’m on my own, which is just fantastic. Um ; Feel comfortable? ; Yeah, I feel like I’ve got another another chance. ; Yeah.
Do you feel like you again? Do you feel like Kylie’s back? ; I do. I really do. And I guess that’s coming through in the work as well. ; I know you’re going to break my heart. ; ; For songwriters, the up and being down is the great music that’s often the result. And in Kylie’s case, it comes with an unexpected country twang. ; ; I think this is the most personal stuff I’ve seen from you.
Very open with the lyrics. ; Yeah. ; Was it a big decision to to make that leap or did it come naturally? ; I I I I I I I I I I There’s two sides to that. Yes, it was easy in that I’d just been through you know, a bit of a rotten time and I just thought I want to be truthful to myself. Secondly, yes, that’s great to share with my audience, but I really I just want to be authentic, so the first few months of writing was uh was therapeutic, just getting stuff off my chest.
; ; That stuff was the very public breakdown of her relationship with actor Joshua Sasse. The pair started dating in 2014. And for a while, it looked like this British actor might just be the one. They were engaged to be married, but then last year, Kylie called it off amid rumors of infidelity.
You’ve talked about how you went to a pretty dark place. I know it’s a cliché, but how else can you explain it? ; Uh I guess I could also explain it just saying you feel like that that you’ve lost yourself a bit. ; There were reports that you had some kind of nervous breakdown and did did that happen or ; Wasn’t so much heartbroken but just a bit broken.
Just as a person where you feel like ; Can you explain that to me? Cuz you’re a woman who who who has loved and you look like you love hard. And and for you to go through heartbreak ; Mhm. ; How does that How does it manifest itself in you? ; You’re not very present. I didn’t feel very present. Um Have your tail that your tail between your legs a little bit thinking oh I don’t know.
Oh rats, you know. [laughter] ; Yeah. ; The decision to go their separate ways was mutual and amicable. Kylie’s love life is almost as famous as her music. ; I think people are going to be a bit shocked. ; For decades we’ve watched her fall in and out of love with a string of famous men.
But if you’re feeling sorry for her then you should stop right there. ; I’m thankful. I don’t want to go through it again but there’s some lessons that take a little while to learn. Is it because I’m 49 and 10 or 11 12ths? ; I wasn’t going ; That I ; [laughter] ; That I maybe ; I wasn’t going ; becoming a little bit wiser. I don’t know. I don’t know.
I but I do feel like um kind of shed a skin that that I perhaps needed to. ; That’s why I say about you is that that you’re incredibly tough. Um you’re resilient and you’re a survivor. ; I think I am. Yeah, but um there’s definitely um that fragile side and and I don’t think that’s a bad thing either. Mhm. ; The softer side. ; Yeah.
; The vulnerable side. ; Yeah. ; The side that’s able to be hurt. ; [laughter] ; Yeah. Otherwise, what’s the point? What is the point? Um So I will I do I do tend to go for things. ; Yeah. On the subject of going for things ; Mhm. Can you stop going for incredibly good-looking [ __ ] ; [laughter] ; Yes. Yeah.
; ; For Kylie, there was no better place to try to mend her broken heart ; ; than a recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee. ; I’ve been looking forward to getting to Nashville just for for months. And I I I remember I was kind of putting my hands together going, “Please, just give me one song.
Two or three would be very nice, but I just I just need I just need the song. And um and I got it in the two weeks that I was there.” ; Her prayers were answered, and Kylie’s 14th studio album will be released next month. In a nod to her upcoming 50th birthday, ; ; it’s called Golden. ; Of course, this song’s about heartbreak, this song’s about falling in love, looking for love, lost love, thinking about love.
That’s the the basis of ; [laughter] ; Unless it’s about dancing, it’s normally about something like that. ; Did this album pump life back into Kylie Minogue? ; Yes. Yeah. ; It’s new life for an artist whose career is already lauded for its longevity. ; I was reading the other day, 30 years. 30 years since I Should Be So Lucky.
That’s unbelievable. Do you still remember how that song came about? ; Yeah. I was uh well, I mean, I can backtrack to that. ; [laughter] ; She might be laughing now, but in reality, I Should Be So Lucky almost didn’t happen. ; [music and singing] ; It was 1988, and riding on the success of Locomotion in Australia, a 19-year-old Kylie flew to London hoping for a big break.
She had a meeting with legendary producers Stock, Aitken, and Waterman, but there was one problem. They’d forgotten all about her. ; I think Pete Waterman said to Mike and Matt, “Oh yeah, that that girl from Neighbours. I forgot she needs a song.” And I think someone said, “Oh, she should be so lucky.” And that’s how that came about.
; true? ; Apparently. ; Luckily, the song became a number one hit and launched Kylie into pop stardom in the UK and around the world. ; ; A stardom still burning bright as I discovered on a busy London night under the disco ball of the Cafe de Paris. Two Aussie ladies all the way from Australia.
Kylie Minogue, what do you love about her? ; I think I moved to London just to see Kylie to be that bit closer. ; Is that right? Not making stuff up, are you? ; No. No, absolutely obsessed with Kylie. ; love about her? She’s amazing, isn’t she? ; What’s not to love? I love her songs. She’s just an Aussie legend. I love it. ; My first concert was Kylie in 1989.
; Was it? ; So, that was 28 My god, 28 and a half years ago. I feel old. ; Yeah. What do you love about her? ; Um she’s just always been there. Um kind of soundtrack to my life ever since I was a kid. Kylie’s been there and as I’ve grown up, so has she. ; ; This is the inner Kylie sanctum. Do not enter.
There’s a big crowd waiting outside. We’re ready to go. ; [cheering] ; We’re so nervous. So nervous. You good? You ready to go? ; Are you Are your knees shaking? ; Yeah, look at them. Look at them, they’re shaking. Can’t wait to see this. I’m following you up. I’m following [laughter] you up. I’m following you. ; [music and cheering] ; It’s finally showtime and 700 super fans are about to get a taste of Kylie, the rhinestone cowgirl.
; Can you feel the sun on your Hopeful hearts of the human race. ; And just like that, Kylie proves, no matter what, the show will always go on. ; ; Watch this space, anything could happen. ; [laughter] ; I have a lot of friends. Obviously, I’m at the 50 zone. So, they’ve either turned 50, they’re about to turn 50.
One of the beautiful things is that I feel from my friends is they just go Do you know what? I’m just going to try and enjoy myself, do the best I can. Love the people I love. Understand as best as possible where I am in the world. Where I may have stuffed it up. Where I feel like I am at the moment. ; You’re doing very well.
I mean, it helps obviously that you’re a hot 50-year-old. ; [laughter] ; Uh-huh. Well, thanks. Um, yeah, we try. We try. I don’t know what to SAY TO THAT. ; [laughter] ; HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CELEBRATE YOUR 50TH BIRTHDAY? ; I have agreed to have a party, which I’m not very good at. Um, my poor girlfriends, they always think, “What do you want to do?” And I’ll say “Oh, I don’t know.
Just Just Just the three of us Can we just go to the local for a dinner?” But, as it’s a big one, I Yeah, I’m going to have a party here in London. ; Sweet. ; Yeah. Want to come? ; Okay. ; [laughter] ; You want me to jump out of a cake? You know, on behalf of all of Australia, I have something for you. Can I get it? Uh, cuz I I feel like ; Do Do I Should I? ; Yeah, no, no.
; Should I be nervous? ; Don’t worry, it’s not expensive. Wait there. ; Okay. ; Just amuse yourself. ; I’m being [laughter] very scared right now. ; Don’t be scared. ; want some some waiting music? ; Oh, where’s the bloody gone? Coming. ; I’m going to be 51 in a minute. Yeah. ; Coming. ; Come on then. ; Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you. Everyone together, playing the crew. Happy birthday, dear Carrie. Happy birthday to you. Have a hip. Have a hip. ; I might cry. ; HAVE A HIP. ; [laughter] ; SPEECH. ; UM TO BE ON planet Earth for 50 years is kind of amazing in itself. And feel like you didn’t draw the short straw. And you get to go through life and deal with all of the things that life throws in front of us with some good people around you.
That’s that’s about as good as it gets. ; [laughter] [cheering] ; Hello, I’m Tara Brown. Thanks for watching 60 Minutes Australia. Subscribe to our channel now for brand new stories and exclusive clips every week. And don’t miss out on our extra minutes segments and full episodes of 60 Minutes on 9now.com.au and the 9 now app.
Disclaimer : This content may be created by AI for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, events, or places is coincidental.
