Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Something to Talk About the Stella Podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Lamarquin to your host, and every week I
Speaker 1: see down with some of the biggest names in the country.
Speaker 1: Because when Australia's celebrities are ready to talk, they come
Speaker 1: to Something to talk about. When Danny Minogue convinced her
Speaker 1: parents to let her try out for Young Talent Time
Speaker 1: at the age of seven, she had no idea of
Speaker 1: the impact it would have on not only her life,
Speaker 1: but her entire family, her parents, her brother and of
Speaker 1: course her sister, Kylie, because back in the early eighties,
Speaker 1: Minogue was just another surname in the phone book. But today,
Speaker 1: well it's a lot more than that. It's Danny, it's Kylie.
Speaker 1: It's disco and dancing and reality TV. It's World Pride
Speaker 1: and Mardi Gras and being an ally. It's a very
Speaker 1: famous genie that never got back in the bottle. From
Speaker 1: the moment Danny went from singing into a hairbrush in
Speaker 1: her living room to performing her first song on national TV.
Speaker 1: On today's episode is Something to Talk About, Danny joins
Speaker 1: me to discuss her love of matchmaking, her lowest moments,
Speaker 1: and what it was really like growing Up Minogue, Danny Minoque,
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Stellar podcast. You are here in Sydney today.
Speaker 1: You've come up from Melbourne. Thank you so much. Well,
Speaker 1: we're putting it through quite the long day. You're here
Speaker 1: with me in the Something to Talk About studio and
Speaker 1: then you're straight onto set with Stella to shoot a coverup.
Speaker 1: So you be exhausted by the time you get on
Speaker 1: the plane.
Speaker 2: No, but I'm so excited. I kind of last night
Speaker 2: I was getting that thrill of you know, there's something
Speaker 2: very very different about the Sydney energy when we come
Speaker 2: from Melbourne, and Melbourne's my little home family bubble. So
Speaker 2: it's like you get on the plane, you're all ready
Speaker 2: mentally like, okay, I'm going somewhere different. This is going
Speaker 2: to be a whole immersive day. It's just going to
Speaker 2: go so fast from the second it starts. And then
Speaker 2: you know, we get on the plane at night time
Speaker 2: and it's like did that all just happen? But seeing
Speaker 2: so many great faces, people that I know and I've
Speaker 2: worked with before, so it's it's just enjoy good. Now.
Speaker 1: For some people, the thought of having their photo taken
Speaker 1: is like as scary as having to give a speech,
Speaker 1: all the other things that insight fear in the average person.
Speaker 1: So for you that knows you're going to go on
Speaker 1: set and do this big shoot, the images are going
Speaker 1: to go everywhere. How do you feel about the process.
Speaker 2: It has changed wildly over the years, It really has.
Speaker 2: I think there was the younger me that was on
Speaker 2: Young Talent Time and it was just like smile and
Speaker 2: we were in kind of some fantastic little family pop
Speaker 2: bubble and everything was just like costumes and fun and
Speaker 2: we genuinely did smile.
Speaker 1: It was so easy.
Speaker 2: Then I feel like I hit my teenages, my bodies
Speaker 2: changing media were like maybe not so pleasant to me.
Speaker 2: And then when I started to go into photographic studios,
Speaker 2: I was really conscious. And I think most teens are like,
Speaker 2: your body's just changing, whether it still looks perfect to
Speaker 2: everyone else.
Speaker 1: You were just like, what is going on?
Speaker 2: But then to have which now people understand if I
Speaker 2: have this conversation because everybody cops it from social media
Speaker 2: with your celebrity or not. But back then you would
Speaker 2: just be complaining about why are you complaining about that?
Speaker 2: But it was you know, it's a lot to take
Speaker 2: on board to do something that you love and then
Speaker 2: to read, you know, wild criticism about it. And I
Speaker 2: used to be very very nervous to be in front
Speaker 2: of a camera because I was like, the camera looks
Speaker 2: into your eyes and looks into your soul, and inside
Speaker 2: I was just frightened. I was so scared of that
Speaker 2: camera and I'm like, it can tell. I'm like just
Speaker 2: just so stiff. And then I feel like everything changed
Speaker 2: when I got pregnant. I whatever it was the hormones,
Speaker 2: felt so fantastic about my body and every step of
Speaker 2: every change, and felt incredible, proud of my body, happy
Speaker 2: inside too, you know, be soon to be a mum
Speaker 2: and it shows, you know, the camera it does read
Speaker 2: into your soul. And now it's a whole other section
Speaker 2: of my life where you know, my body's going through
Speaker 2: another lot of changes with age, and I feel conflicted
Speaker 2: about it. Once someone's on set, I'm fine.
Speaker 1: I'm fine.
Speaker 2: I've done it enough times to be know that if
Speaker 2: you a very relaxed and in my mind, I just think,
Speaker 2: just be jelly, Just be jelly, and that that works.
Speaker 1: I loved that revelation that it was when you were pregnant,
Speaker 1: that something clicked and it became a less confronting experience.
Speaker 1: I wonder, as you say, outside of your own experience,
Speaker 1: what that is that we could bottle.
Speaker 2: I just think I was happy. I was full of
Speaker 2: really great pregnancy hormones. It wasn't a difficult pregnancy, and
Speaker 2: I was just like, I'd never thought that I was
Speaker 2: going to be a mum, and then here I was,
Speaker 2: I was pregnant, and it just felt like I was
Speaker 2: embarking on this epic journey, which it is, and that
Speaker 2: it was something to savor every second, so that it's
Speaker 2: your the frame of your mind, how you perceive that journey,
Speaker 2: how it's going to be, is how it's going to
Speaker 2: be for you. So if you're excited or you're relaxed
Speaker 2: about it, it's going to be great and exciting and
Speaker 2: relaxing and good. It was like last night, you know,
Speaker 2: the old me is like, oh, it's cover of shoot,
Speaker 2: you know, am I ready for this? I have done
Speaker 2: no working out, I've been eating too much over Christmas
Speaker 2: all of that, and I'm like, you know, you just
Speaker 2: got to forget it, relax, have fun, be confident in yourself.
Speaker 2: And we don't always wake up with the same amount
Speaker 2: of confidence. I believe not everybody does, and you think, Okay,
Speaker 2: I wonder what it will be like when the alarm
Speaker 2: goes off at four am. And I was pumped. I
Speaker 2: was just so so excited. It's a joy to do
Speaker 2: something like this. This is incredible work and really being
Speaker 2: I know that media has changed a lot, and you know,
Speaker 2: we're doing the photo shoot, we're doing podcasts, we're filming things,
Speaker 2: there's behind the scenes and all of that, but we're
Speaker 2: still all here creating. It scares me is that one
Speaker 2: day we won't be here and AI is taking over
Speaker 2: a few friends of mine that are models and maybe
Speaker 2: grapple with a few insecurities about modeling. And I had
Speaker 2: a conversation with one of my girlfriends the other day
Speaker 2: and I said, the first commercial has come out that's
Speaker 2: completely AI. There aren't models, the clothing hasn't even been created,
Speaker 2: and nobody was there. Please, when you go to your
Speaker 2: next photoshoot, just enjoy every second because these times we
Speaker 2: don't know what's changing.
Speaker 1: It's so true. I mean, as you say, the distribution
Speaker 1: model might change, so content is being consumed and produced
Speaker 1: on different platforms, but the notion of creating, whether it's
Speaker 1: music or whether it's film or television or media. It's when,
Speaker 1: as you say, people are starting to get outsourced by
Speaker 1: the machines and.
Speaker 2: Creativity, the one on one working as a team. I
Speaker 2: get a buzz from that.
Speaker 1: Because that's the humanity and the connection, which is something
Speaker 1: that's very much at the core of a series that
Speaker 1: we can currently see you on streaming on Binge. I
Speaker 1: Kissed a Girl and then I Kissed a Boy is
Speaker 1: about to start back later this week now. Danny, obviously
Speaker 1: everyone knows you have worn many hats throughout your career.
Speaker 1: You have worked as a singer and a recording artist,
Speaker 1: television host, actor. When you see I Kissed a Girl
Speaker 1: and there's Danny Minogue walking into the room in a
Speaker 1: glorious outfit, this uber, glamorous matchmaker playing matchmaker to same
Speaker 1: sex couples. You have been a lifelong advocate of the
Speaker 1: LGBTQIA plus community. I think if ever there was a
Speaker 1: role made for Danny Minogue, it's got to be this one,
Speaker 1: does it.
Speaker 2: Thank you? Thank you for seeing that. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2: My friends know that I love nothing more than at
Speaker 2: least tempting to matchmake and I do it with friendships businesses,
Speaker 2: not just in a romantic way, but it literally is
Speaker 2: something that makes me feel incredible. So many my friends say,
Speaker 2: you know, you introduced us, and you know, I can't
Speaker 2: imagine what this would be like if we hadn't met
Speaker 2: through you. So that's kind of at the base of
Speaker 2: doing the show. I am a consumer of a lot
Speaker 2: of dating shows. I love everything from Indian Matchmaker to.
Speaker 1: Love Is Blind to.
Speaker 2: You know, just so many different things. And it was
Speaker 2: wild to me that we were making the show in
Speaker 2: the UK and it was made for BBC and they
Speaker 2: had never been a same sex dating reality show, and
Speaker 2: that made me really sad because everybody wants to be seen.
Speaker 2: There are a lot of people out there who really
Speaker 2: know who they are who want to be seen. There
Speaker 2: are a lot of people out there who are trying
Speaker 2: to figure out who they are, who want to see
Speaker 2: something and then go, ah, the pennies dropped. That's me
Speaker 2: and I relate to that. So it was really important
Speaker 2: for me to do something to try and get this
Speaker 2: on TV, but something that was done in the right way.
Speaker 2: So I didn't want it to be a really scrappy
Speaker 2: dating show. I didn't want anyone to walk away from
Speaker 2: having had a bad experience. I wanted it to feel
Speaker 2: like a warm hug, that people were genuinely there for
Speaker 2: the right reason. The casting is incredible, not only to
Speaker 2: show different personalities, you get to see different people from
Speaker 2: all over the UK. But it was the first time
Speaker 2: in reality TV where it was not about being nasty.
Speaker 2: The cast were not provoked by the producers and it
Speaker 2: wasn't There wasn't some cookie cutter body mold that you
Speaker 2: had to be in. You were not looking like Barbie
Speaker 2: or Ken to get on this show. You were there
Speaker 2: because you were looking for love and it cracked opened
Speaker 2: this attention in the UK, Like the reviews for the
Speaker 2: show were wild, like this is the game change, a
Speaker 2: show of what reality now could be, and that everybody
Speaker 2: was looking at this for how it's done.
Speaker 1: And it is true. I mean that progress that you
Speaker 1: see for people thinking if I had had that representation
Speaker 1: when I was growing up, things would have been so
Speaker 1: much easier and for you and me just observing that
Speaker 1: change as well. Love to ask your thoughts about here
Speaker 1: in Australia, because as you say, the show is a
Speaker 1: British production. Now in Australia will have also seen over
Speaker 1: the course of your lifetime massive progress. Same sex marriage
Speaker 1: was legalized. Marriage equality was achieved in twenty seventeen, but
Speaker 1: we don't have a local version yet of I mean
Speaker 1: like that word, yeah, I was going to say, I
Speaker 1: could think of somebody's sitting in this student I could
Speaker 1: host it possibly with the initials DM. What do you
Speaker 1: think about progress in Australia.
Speaker 2: I think I have seen it come a long way,
Speaker 2: and through Marti Grass, I've kind of had conversations where
Speaker 2: I've learned more about the history of what's gone on
Speaker 2: politically and what goes on with that event, and what's
Speaker 2: happening with the community. And I think there's a lot
Speaker 2: more there that can be documented and made into TV
Speaker 2: shows to teach people. There is so far that we
Speaker 2: still have to go, and I feel like in this
Speaker 2: moment in time, we are quite affected by what is
Speaker 2: happening in the rest of the world, whereas when we
Speaker 2: were growing up we weren't. But news feels a lot
Speaker 2: more global and politics feels a lot more global now.
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's because I'm an adult and
Speaker 2: I'm looking at it through a different lens, but it
Speaker 2: felt like growing up what happened in Australia was we
Speaker 2: were in a bubble of Australia and now we're not.
Speaker 2: So it's kind of having an awareness that something that
Speaker 2: maybe happens in another country has a dramatic effect on
Speaker 2: what's happening here. But I think there are amazing stories
Speaker 2: to tell people to meet. If we could make an
Speaker 2: Australian version of this, it would be super important. I
Speaker 2: had the good fortune to meet a guy who was
Speaker 2: from the country and like a cattleman, and he had
Speaker 2: wanted to kill himself many times because he knew he
Speaker 2: was gay, and he lived in a small country town.
Speaker 1: It's not gay bar. There's no Oxford Street, there's.
Speaker 2: No you know, old continent in London, you know Old
Speaker 2: Comton Street, or there's none of that. You don't know
Speaker 2: who you are, You've got nothing, no one to reflect off,
Speaker 2: no one to talk to, and there are a lot
Speaker 2: of people that want to take their lives. And I
Speaker 2: think there are some incredible stories in these shows that
Speaker 2: we've filmed, and you'll learn a lot about the guys
Speaker 2: and the girls coming from different places in such a
Speaker 2: tiny country, the UK, but you can be a few
Speaker 2: hours up the road and it's small part.
Speaker 1: It's not all London.
Speaker 2: Story. I think what is important for the community that
Speaker 2: I can help with because I always think what can
Speaker 2: I do? What can I personally do? So there's obviously
Speaker 2: been a lot of joy through music, Mardi Gras and
Speaker 2: prides and celebration, and music is something that a lot
Speaker 2: of people turn to in the privacy of their bedroom,
Speaker 2: whether they're growing up and finding out who they are,
Speaker 2: or whether they're an adult driving in their car. But
Speaker 2: in that private space, that music feels like a blanket
Speaker 2: of comfort. And I've read so many handwritten letters from
Speaker 2: people that explained to me so much about how that
Speaker 2: music delivers a message of hope and security as well
Speaker 2: as celebration and joy, and dancing around and singing along
Speaker 2: to the lyrics takes you to a place of joy.
Speaker 2: So I think we've come a long way in that.
Speaker 2: At first I heard a lot of words like, you know,
Speaker 2: they want to be tolerated. Then it was they want
Speaker 2: to be accepted. What I would love to see is celebrated.
Speaker 2: So in this TV show, what we do is celebrate
Speaker 2: people for exactly who they are, not who you think
Speaker 2: they should be or anything. Exactly who they are. We
Speaker 2: make them feel incredibly safe and able to be themselves
Speaker 2: and then you see people blossom and bloom and incredible
Speaker 2: things happen, which is kind of the opposite from how
Speaker 2: a lot of reality TV.
Speaker 1: Is so true and that advocacy, as I said earlier,
Speaker 1: life long ally to the community. When you mentioned Marti Grass,
Speaker 1: so you performed in Marti Grass nineteen ninety eight. You
Speaker 1: were performing in gay nightclubs in the early nineties in
Speaker 1: London at a time where that would have been seen
Speaker 1: by some managers and people in the industry is quite risky,
Speaker 1: but everyone by everyone.
Speaker 2: There wasn't one person that said, oh, there's no risk
Speaker 2: attached to that, or you should do it, not one.
Speaker 2: So again, is a very different time.
Speaker 1: So then if you throw forward to something like now
Speaker 1: where you're hosting a franchise like this, you are performing
Speaker 1: on the opening night of World Pride, I mean talk
Speaker 1: about a moment you are hailed as a gay icon.
Speaker 1: You performed it well Pride with your sister Kyli Minok,
Speaker 1: who's also hailed as a gay icon. I mean the
Speaker 1: full circle moment of that of getting that pushback early
Speaker 1: in your career that everyone was saying this is a
Speaker 1: risk to something like that, and being on a truly
Speaker 1: global stage and having that word icon attached to it,
Speaker 1: that's really a snapshot of how far we've come, surely
Speaker 1: in the course of your career.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean for me, it's just all about love,
Speaker 2: and it's an ongoing love give out as much as
Speaker 2: we receive. It's just an amazing relationship that we have
Speaker 2: with the community and we hope to I don't think
Speaker 2: we've ever thought I'm going to do this and I'm
Speaker 2: going to lead the way. Like when I was asked
Speaker 2: to perform at Gay in London, I thought, that's the
Speaker 2: kind of club I would love to perform in. They
Speaker 2: play the music I want to listen to. Everybody who's
Speaker 2: there is in this crazy, happy pop dance mood. I
Speaker 2: would love to be a part of that. It was
Speaker 2: very scary because press were making up staff able to
Speaker 2: say what they wanted. You had no right of reply
Speaker 2: and you couldn't complain about anything that was written that
Speaker 2: wasn't true, and then if you denied it, people thought
Speaker 2: it's even more true. And I just got to the
Speaker 2: point where I thought, you know, actually stuff it like
Speaker 2: if you stick to what makes you feel great and
Speaker 2: what is true for you and cut forward to now
Speaker 2: when you hear the word authenticity, if we all are
Speaker 2: brave enough to go to that place, and for each
Speaker 2: of us there's a different there's always bravery that is needed,
Speaker 2: but in different doses for different things, for different people.
Speaker 2: That's one thing that I've gone through that was like
Speaker 2: I just had to go against noise of people saying
Speaker 2: this is not a good idea, and I was like, well,
Speaker 2: no one's done it before, so let's see what happens.
Speaker 1: Huh right, let's see coming up. Danny opens up about
Speaker 1: her lowest moments and reveals the very profound way Kylie's
Speaker 1: cancer diagnosis changed her outlawk con life. You have been
Speaker 1: working before you got to double digits. So I mean
Speaker 1: we have children around the same age. My oldest son
Speaker 1: is fifteen, so just getting into that point and maybe
Speaker 1: getting that part time job, but you were working on
Speaker 1: young talent time. I think you first started on the
Speaker 1: show seven or eight and then came on as a
Speaker 1: regular performance. So that's a really young age to be
Speaker 1: working in that industry.
Speaker 2: That now, Like looking at my son at seven, there
Speaker 2: was like, if you're motivated and you want to do it,
Speaker 2: me when I was inside that seven year old body.
Speaker 2: I'm like, this makes total sense. Just got to talk
Speaker 2: my parents into it. It's like if you want to
Speaker 2: talk them into giving you that money for the to
Speaker 2: go and buy some lollies at the local milk bar,
Speaker 2: which we used to do, this was the same. I'm
Speaker 2: just going to talk them into it because nobody sees
Speaker 2: this makes total sense. He wasn't that kid. So when
Speaker 2: you're looking at a kid that would have no desire
Speaker 2: to work or do anything that was like work, then
Speaker 2: it's like, WHOA, that's very different. Yeah, like my son's
Speaker 2: fourteen now, and so I was just googling the other
Speaker 2: day like at what age, and yeah, what the options are?
Speaker 2: And I think there's something great to be said for
Speaker 2: getting a job when you are young, learning some responsibility
Speaker 2: outside the home where your parents and guardians aren't saying
Speaker 2: do this, do that, or you haven't done it someone
Speaker 2: else saying that, and it clicks in in that different way,
Speaker 2: and then you I've seen my friend's kids just blossom
Speaker 2: from that opportunity to really step up.
Speaker 1: Definitely, it's at independence. I'd love to ask, do you
Speaker 1: recall how you convinced your parents to let you go
Speaker 1: on Young Talent Time If you had to talk them
Speaker 1: into it.
Speaker 2: There was a lot of consideration. My mom's sister was
Speaker 2: doing acting, Kylie, and I had done a couple of
Speaker 2: little acting spots, but it was nothing that was going
Speaker 2: to change our dynamic.
Speaker 1: As a family.
Speaker 2: I watched Young Talent Time and I just wanted to
Speaker 2: be in that TV set doing what those kids were doing.
Speaker 2: But I had no idea of what impact that would
Speaker 2: have on the family as far as the rehearsal schedule,
Speaker 2: showing up being there and you then in the public
Speaker 2: eye on the biggest entertainment show in the country every week.
Speaker 2: I had no idea how that would affect Dad when
Speaker 2: he walked in the office to go to work, how
Speaker 2: it would affect mom. You know, when you've got to
Speaker 2: put your name down for something, Minogue is the most
Speaker 2: unusual name, and it's like, oh, are you related to?
Speaker 2: And for my brother and sister, it was a lot
Speaker 2: at school, like we all went to the same school,
Speaker 2: so the kids knew we were all brothers and sister.
Speaker 2: You couldn't go no, don't know. I've never seen him
Speaker 2: before in my life. But there was a lot of
Speaker 2: a lot of deliberating and what I respect and loved
Speaker 2: about my parents was that they sat me down and
Speaker 2: talked me through all of that. It wasn't just going
Speaker 2: to be a yes or a no, and it's our
Speaker 2: way and you have.
Speaker 1: To deal with it, really.
Speaker 2: Trying to have a young person understand that here is
Speaker 2: the impact that we can foresee, and then there's a
Speaker 2: huge section of question marks where there's stuff we don't
Speaker 2: know what it's going to be like. And they were
Speaker 2: smart enough to know that because I've seen so many kids, adults,
Speaker 2: and families go through being on TV becoming famous, whether
Speaker 2: it's through reality TV or as an or a singer
Speaker 2: or whatever. And once you arrive there and it changes
Speaker 2: your world, you're like, oh, whoa, whoa, whoah. Oh, I
Speaker 2: didn't realize it was going to be that, and now
Speaker 2: I don't want that anymore. You know, if you're an
Speaker 2: adult and you're making your own choices, it really just
Speaker 2: affects you. But at that stage, being a child and
Speaker 2: being looked after, it affected everyone, and I don't know
Speaker 2: how I would have coped being in their shoes trying
Speaker 2: to make that decision. It's really also so admirable, I think,
Speaker 2: And to answer your question, I think I put on
Speaker 2: big puppy dog like they put those acting skills to
Speaker 2: tell you how much joy Kylie and I had At
Speaker 2: any given opportunity, we would be jumping around the lounde
Speaker 2: room learning songs and dancers, literally singing into a hairbrush.
Speaker 2: I know it sounds stupid, but anything that we could
Speaker 2: do to try and pretend that we were these amazing
Speaker 2: stars that we've seen in pop videos or on TV shows.
Speaker 2: So they were like, it's really difficult because it's their world,
Speaker 2: it's what makes them light up. And I was listening
Speaker 2: to something the other day it's like, you will only
Speaker 2: regret the things that you didn't do that really make
Speaker 2: you excited. You may fail at it, that's still okay,
Speaker 2: but to not go for something that ticks everything every
Speaker 2: box for you makes your heart seeing something that you
Speaker 2: can't stop thinking about before you go to sleep, when
Speaker 2: you wake up, if it's that, you got to do it,
Speaker 2: even if you don't know what you're.
Speaker 1: Doing, because then there's no regrets and no what ifs,
Speaker 1: which is obviously what a gift that your parents gave you,
Speaker 1: because as you say, they were clearly very ahead of
Speaker 1: their time in terms of not only engaging with you
Speaker 1: and participating that conversation, because that's not always what parenting
Speaker 1: was in the nineteen eighties is a lot more like
Speaker 1: that now, But also to clearly had this sense that
Speaker 1: it was something that could be a regret for you
Speaker 1: and maybe for Kylie if they closed that door. But Danny,
Speaker 1: it was just so.
Speaker 2: Unbearable for them. Could you amree single day if they
Speaker 2: said no.
Speaker 1: Those puppy dog eyes would have turned into you held
Speaker 1: me back. It's so interesting. I think so many of
Speaker 1: us look back on those moments there, as you say,
Speaker 1: not only our sliding door moments for us, but for
Speaker 1: the people around us, And that really vivid picture that
Speaker 1: you describe as you say, you can just imagine the
Speaker 1: impact on your parents and your siblings of a name
Speaker 1: like Minogue. Then suddenly that becomes a household name, and
Speaker 1: that Genie never went back in the bottle, did it?
Speaker 1: Because obviously some people, as you're talking about, they don't
Speaker 1: know what they're getting into and then wow. But obviously
Speaker 1: for some people, you know a few years later they'll
Speaker 1: go and you know, fade away from the media of
Speaker 1: the entertainment industry, they might do something else. But obviously
Speaker 1: for your family, Minogue, that has become a household name
Speaker 1: and never abated for one single second. So it must
Speaker 1: feel like a real line in the sand to think
Speaker 1: of that moment before you joined Young Talent Time, where
Speaker 1: Minogue was just another name in the phone book because
Speaker 1: we had phone books back then, exactly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And to paint the picture, my parents are very private.
Speaker 2: They don't like being on stage in front of cameras.
Speaker 2: They you know, they just they back away. So it
Speaker 2: really had a wait to it. And my brothers the same.
Speaker 2: He doesn't want to be in front of a camera.
Speaker 2: He's a cameraman for many years, a camera happy there.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously it's been a long time then since
Speaker 1: your family became that household name and you first went
Speaker 1: on Too Young Talent Times, So obviously this is something
Speaker 1: that everyone's lives have changed and evolved. But is that
Speaker 1: anything that you still talk about. Do you think that
Speaker 1: your parents or your brother in particular, might ever had
Speaker 1: that moment of like how life might have been as
Speaker 1: if Danny had we'd said no, and then maybe the
Speaker 1: Minogue name wouldn't just be another name of a suburb
Speaker 1: in Melbourne rather than this globally recognized name.
Speaker 2: Ah. Yeah, I I don't know that we've spoken about
Speaker 2: like exactly, like how would it be different? We just
Speaker 2: I guess we've forgotten like what it was like before.
Speaker 2: But we do cherish a lot of family moments that
Speaker 2: were before that fame came in and before people who
Speaker 2: knew who we were where we could just freely move
Speaker 2: about and do so many things like you know, go
Speaker 2: on our caravan holidays and just have fun together as
Speaker 2: a family. But we we did talk the other day
Speaker 2: about just with such a tight unit as a family,
Speaker 2: and I think people get a real sense of that now,
Speaker 2: Like we've been through everything thick and thin, and we've
Speaker 2: always just stayed together. But we have such a huge
Speaker 2: respect for each other and love celebrating each other in
Speaker 2: what we're able to do, and very well aware that
Speaker 2: we're only able to do those things because the other
Speaker 2: members of the family support us in so many ways,
Speaker 2: so time wise, emotionally, really like uplift each other to
Speaker 2: do what they do to the best of their ability.
Speaker 2: And that's we know that special. Not every family has that.
Speaker 1: That's what a family is doing. What a family can
Speaker 1: do best, isn't it when you've got that support and
Speaker 1: from there you can take on the world, and you've
Speaker 1: always got someone that's got your back. Yeah, no matter what.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I often think I don't know what my personality
Speaker 2: would have been like if I didn't have that, because
Speaker 2: a lot of people have said to me recently, They're like,
Speaker 2: oh my god, you were so super confident on Young
Speaker 2: Talent Time. You were just like balancing through the screen.
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, it was wasn't like I didn't know
Speaker 2: any different at the time. It was like jump on
Speaker 2: stage in this crazy costume and do that. I'm like, sure,
Speaker 2: but I think it's because I knew I just had
Speaker 2: a happy home to come to, was always stable and encouraging,
Speaker 2: and therefore the only thing that would be stopping me
Speaker 2: would be me.
Speaker 1: And I mean, you had a lot of experiencing into
Speaker 1: a hair brush, so I'm sure that prepared you for
Speaker 1: being on National TV. One of your fellow performers from
Speaker 1: that year on Young Talent Time, Tina Arena, was in
Speaker 1: the podcast with me last year, and one of the
Speaker 1: things we spoke about was how the nature of the
Speaker 1: industry has changed, and also she was saying, in some
Speaker 1: ways hasn't changed, but the one of the things we
Speaker 1: discussed was this trope of women being pitted against one another,
Speaker 1: and that's such a popular culture stereotype. As you and
Speaker 1: I speaking, the Grammys were held earlier this month, and
Speaker 1: I don't know what you thought, Daniel, if you saw
Speaker 1: much of it, but obviously one of the observations being
Speaker 1: made of that was that there were so many different
Speaker 1: female performers, powerhouse women of all different backgrounds, different ages,
Speaker 1: different ethnicities, different body type and really importantly women that
Speaker 1: once would have been like, well there can only be
Speaker 1: one winner, and she was jealous of her, but really
Speaker 1: hugging and really embracing that. What are your observations of
Speaker 1: that from the course of your career.
Speaker 2: I've definitely experienced it pretty much. You know, the high
Speaker 2: of moving to London and the media was very different
Speaker 2: and there was no social media, there was no right
Speaker 2: of reply, you couldn't complain. Any journalist could write whatever
Speaker 2: they wanted. They just had to put a close source said,
Speaker 2: and then it was a free for all. They knew
Speaker 2: exactly what sold newspapers and once something was written, it
Speaker 2: really it really stuck, and so it was so hard
Speaker 2: to navigate that to then even though is something true
Speaker 2: was the women now the media can't control it in
Speaker 2: that way because the girls communicate direct with each other,
Speaker 2: you don't have their phone number. That's okay, I can
Speaker 2: DM you. You know me from the blue tick. Let's
Speaker 2: go it is this something? No, it's not okay, cool, it's.
Speaker 1: A great word. God that how that has really helped
Speaker 1: change the whole dynamic.
Speaker 2: Social media has really helped. And I think also seeing
Speaker 2: women in behind the scenes in powerful positions has changed things.
Speaker 2: So if you have female producers and executive producers, that's
Speaker 2: a whole different story and mixing it up to have
Speaker 2: different thoughts, emotions and represent women in different ways. And
Speaker 2: it is changing. There's still a long way to go.
Speaker 1: It's still a bit of progress to be made. I
Speaker 1: featured you on the cover of Body and Soul a
Speaker 1: few years ago when you turned fifty. In in that interview,
Speaker 1: you were talking about how say your mum and her
Speaker 1: generation growing up. There were no examples that you were
Speaker 1: just being told, Okay, you've had your moment, now you've
Speaker 1: got kids, sort of, you know, pack up, you're moving
Speaker 1: into this clothing. God forbid, you'd be sexy or be visible.
Speaker 1: I'd love to ask you about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't feel like we had women that we
Speaker 2: saw in film or tell vision or music that gave
Speaker 2: us any idea that life still goes on. I'm loving
Speaker 2: what Jane Fonder is doing. I'm loving what Demi Moore's doing.
Speaker 2: I'm loving what Pamela Anderson's doing. Brookshields like a lot
Speaker 2: of those girls that I grew up watching, and we
Speaker 2: need to see what's possible, like with Kissed Girl, and
Speaker 2: if you need to see yourself or what you could be.
Speaker 2: And yes, things are definitely changing. I hope no women
Speaker 2: feel like they're pressured to be either look like or
Speaker 2: achieve like to mean more at that age, because we
Speaker 2: don't all have to do that. But it's nice to
Speaker 2: know that if you if you really want to go
Speaker 2: for something, you can You can do it at any age.
Speaker 2: You just got to have that energy behind that idea
Speaker 2: to push it through, that real want, that desire, that
Speaker 2: thing I was talking about before, like you cannot stop
Speaker 2: thinking about it, it's all you want to do.
Speaker 1: I think it's such an important clarification you make that
Speaker 1: it's absolutely celebrating certain women in popular culture is not
Speaker 1: about saying everyone needs to look like this, and if
Speaker 1: you're not looking like it's okay to be sixty as
Speaker 1: long as you look like Dememore, because like it's nobody,
Speaker 1: most people twenty twenty five, thirty. But it's really just
Speaker 1: about not feeling whatever you're living in your life, that
Speaker 1: you have to pack up, or that there's a certain
Speaker 1: cutoff age. Whatever it is that you're doing, whatever drives you,
Speaker 1: whatever the nature of your work, whatever you look like,
Speaker 1: that that's not what's the question. The question is just
Speaker 1: your right to take up space, and it doesn't have
Speaker 1: a cut off. Rebecca Gibney was on Miss Cover and
Speaker 1: the podcast last week and she turned sixty in December,
Speaker 1: and we were talking about I love the way she
Speaker 1: frames growing older. She calls it a privilege, And we
Speaker 1: were talking about how also being aware of mortality really
Speaker 1: brings that into sharp perspective because, as she said, she's
Speaker 1: lost people and that really then focus as well. Obviously
Speaker 1: all of us have that moment with the birthday where
Speaker 1: we think about where we've gone, how much closer we're
Speaker 1: getting to, you know, whatever that era. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: we could be eighty one day. We should be so
Speaker 1: lucky as somebody wants, we should be so lucky to
Speaker 1: get to eighty. You of course Danny, you've spoken you've
Speaker 1: lost people through your life, as most of us have.
Speaker 1: I know, for me, my mum was diagnosed with cancer
Speaker 1: at forty and died when I was a teenager. So
Speaker 1: I think about that every birthday. And I'm not saying
Speaker 1: I always get it right, but I think, well, that's
Speaker 1: that is a privilege, as Rebecca said, for you, has
Speaker 1: that helped as well what you've been Obviously your sister
Speaker 1: was diagnosed, we've canceered a young age, obviously survived. It
Speaker 1: is really healthy. But those moments in life, they can
Speaker 1: help bring mortality into sharp focus and put things into
Speaker 1: can't they.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm so sorry that you lost to your moment
Speaker 2: such a oh.
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you. No, I appreciate that, I thank
Speaker 1: you and I but I think it's, like I say,
Speaker 1: really only mention it because I do think if you
Speaker 1: were all shaped by different experiences, and I think that,
Speaker 1: as I say, not pretending that it shapes every moment
Speaker 1: about getting older, but it certainly does give you a
Speaker 1: certain glimpse into well, what is the alternative? As the
Speaker 1: saying goes, and the alternative is not something that is
Speaker 1: a very appealing option.
Speaker 2: I remember when Kylie was really sick, and there was
Speaker 2: the chance that we were going to lose her as
Speaker 2: she had recovered, and the world was celebrating yes this
Speaker 2: as well. Again we were all celebrating. I lost my
Speaker 2: best friend to cancer, and I was grieving. There was
Speaker 2: this celebration and grieving, and also at the same time,
Speaker 2: there were so many articles about women. What does she
Speaker 2: look like? How old is she? The first line of
Speaker 2: any interview Kylie da da da age, Danny da da
Speaker 2: da or whoever you know, Prime minister, whoever you are,
Speaker 2: it's your age and what do you look like? Does
Speaker 2: she look good for her age or does she not?
Speaker 2: Because if she doesn't look good for her age, she's
Speaker 2: of no value to anybody. And I just thought, you know,
Speaker 2: ages is such a privilege. Whatever that looks like. I
Speaker 2: would really always just stop my friends if they were like,
Speaker 2: I'm turning thirty and I'm like, okay, let's just let's
Speaker 2: just have a look at that how you are viewing that,
Speaker 2: because it is a privilege, like, and you know, the
Speaker 2: younger you can understand that, the more joy you can
Speaker 2: bring into your life.
Speaker 1: I would love to just actually mention something before we
Speaker 1: wrap up, because obviously, what sort of emerged quite organically.
Speaker 1: I think from our conversation is is how things changed.
Speaker 1: The role that people in the spotlight, such as yourself
Speaker 1: can really help you move the dial on conversations, through representation,
Speaker 1: through pushing back a bit, through taking on speaking up
Speaker 1: for things that are difficult at the time, and really
Speaker 1: helping people be seen and heard. And I wanted to
Speaker 1: let you know, Danny that when I last interviewed you,
Speaker 1: it was about twelve years ago. So I was a
Speaker 1: feature writer at the time and we sat down new
Speaker 1: on Bill Smiggs.
Speaker 2: It wasn't that long ago, I know, I know, and.
Speaker 1: So like Ethan was, you know, would have only been
Speaker 1: a couple of years old. I was just back from
Speaker 1: Mattlee with my second son, and I remember seeing we
Speaker 1: had a really lovely interview, by the way, and I
Speaker 1: really enjoyed talking to you. And then a few years
Speaker 1: later I went on to launch Stella, And so about
Speaker 1: three years after launching Stella, I had a moment where
Speaker 1: I just felt really uncomfortable about the fact that it
Speaker 1: was part of the celebrity interview, particularly with the woman
Speaker 1: where we would say you think about having children, and
Speaker 1: then if you do it a child, would you have
Speaker 1: another one, and that was groundbreaking. I remember that interview
Speaker 1: with you. I know that I asked, do you think
Speaker 1: that you will have another baby? And you answered and
Speaker 1: it wasn't an awkward moment and at the time, well
Speaker 1: maybe it was for you that That's part of where
Speaker 1: I'm headed with this is I just wanted to let
Speaker 1: you know that that was one of the moments that
Speaker 1: I look back on and thought I really should have
Speaker 1: done better than that. And I don't think that was
Speaker 1: a fair question to ask, even though some people disagree.
Speaker 1: I know some people listening or go, I'll get over yourself, like,
Speaker 1: can't we ask anything more? But it is about you
Speaker 1: never know what someone's dealing with at the time, and
Speaker 1: as I say, it was nothing that you said that
Speaker 1: made me feel uncomfortable. I just wanted to let you
Speaker 1: know that you really shaped a role in that and
Speaker 1: I wish I hadn't asked you that, even though you
Speaker 1: probably don't even remember me asking it, and wanted to
Speaker 1: let you know that you really were one of the
Speaker 1: people that played into that role with that policy taking shape.
Speaker 2: I tell you, I remember when that policy change happened,
Speaker 2: and it was so groundbreaking and so phenomenal and really like,
Speaker 2: this is how it could be done. We're still going
Speaker 2: to get amazing interviews and probably way better because you
Speaker 2: haven't put someone in that fight or flight situation because
Speaker 2: you don't know what's going on internally for me at
Speaker 2: that point. So, after Ethan was born, I was very
Speaker 2: ill for a long while. First I didn't know what
Speaker 2: was wrong, but then my thyroid wasn't working. I had appendicitis.
Speaker 2: I got down to like forty five kilos. It was
Speaker 2: like clothing wouldn't even like hold on, and I just
Speaker 2: knew I was at my worst when I was looking
Speaker 2: at Ethan in his cot and I had no energy
Speaker 2: to pick him up and get him out, and he's crying,
Speaker 2: he wants feeding. Like that is like the lowest point
Speaker 2: for me after enjoying all of this beautiful being pregnant
Speaker 2: and stuff, and so yes, if you're faced with a
Speaker 2: question like that, you're like, you know, it took me
Speaker 2: a long while, a long way healthwise to get myself
Speaker 2: back on my feet. I wasn't like upset that you
Speaker 2: asked me, thankfully, but I know, like so many different
Speaker 2: women have you know, had a different journey if the
Speaker 2: policy hadn't changed and you'd ask me later down the track. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that would have hit me in a completely different way
Speaker 2: because there's, you know, been a lot of change since then.
Speaker 2: I have a partner now that I've been with for
Speaker 2: eleven years. Did Ethan ask me, you know, to have
Speaker 2: a brother or sister?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 2: He did. Yeah, it's been it's been a long ride.
Speaker 2: But you started off by saying, do women like myself
Speaker 2: who are out there performing shape a lot of that?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 2: The changes are moving forward, and I think editors, journalists,
Speaker 2: performers and working together, I think is how we'll make
Speaker 2: the most change, you know, quicker, and how we can
Speaker 2: really speed this up. And after I had Ethan, I
Speaker 2: remember contacting an editor and I would come out of
Speaker 2: the maternal Health Center and his crash, and there would
Speaker 2: be a car outside the door. There was no other
Speaker 2: that car park wasn't there for any other thing other
Speaker 2: than parents entering and exiting. And there was a car
Speaker 2: and there was two maybe three photographers lying on the
Speaker 2: top of it with long lens cameras like you would
Speaker 2: see if somebody was in Africa with a rifle looking
Speaker 2: to shoot an animal and there was a target. There
Speaker 2: was a price on our heads, and I was used
Speaker 2: to having paparazzi around, and I shook. My whole body shook.
Speaker 2: I was so scared, and I thought, I need to
Speaker 2: not be shaking and completely having this outer body experience
Speaker 2: because I am looking after this tiny person. I also
Speaker 2: am very well aware that the people who work there
Speaker 2: and the other parents have never been subjected to this.
Speaker 2: They don't know if those guys are pedophiles. I know
Speaker 2: their paparazzi, but they don't know. And so I remember
Speaker 2: sending the pictures to an editor to say, these pictures
Speaker 2: with this background, to put in context where it is
Speaker 2: is just this, and we are captive. I cannot go
Speaker 2: to a health check that by government I need to
Speaker 2: go to. I cannot do this, and all of these
Speaker 2: other people are subjected to it. So just so that
Speaker 2: you're aware when you purchase those photos, this is what
Speaker 2: you're encouraging. And she said, I will never purchase those
Speaker 2: photos again, and she didn't. And that's how you make change.
Speaker 2: It's having uncomfortable conversations, not knowing the outcome, not knowing
Speaker 2: if that editor will say screw you, because that sells
Speaker 2: our magazine. So it there somewhere along the line, there's
Speaker 2: a price because not everybody's going to say yes, but
Speaker 2: at least try right.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, that's right. Well, that's been a recurring theme and
Speaker 1: that that's what was happening when you were first pushing
Speaker 1: back in the early days in the ninety in London,
Speaker 1: getting that pressure about Mardy gra Oh this is a risk,
Speaker 1: but you push back, you speak up and then look
Speaker 1: where we are.
Speaker 2: Feel like it's a gentle way. It's not picketing and
Speaker 2: I'm ready to take it on the chin. It's either
Speaker 2: asking the question or showing up and doing it, not
Speaker 2: knowing the outcome and just saying okay, here we go.
Speaker 1: It's changing hearts and minds with step by step. Danny
Speaker 1: Minogue has been such a pleasure to.
Speaker 2: Tame to you. I need many more hours with you.
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: I know many questions to you. I feel like I
Speaker 2: could sit here and interview you. I have so many
Speaker 2: questions anytime.
Speaker 1: I would love for switch. Well, I will come to Melbourne.
Speaker 1: You came to Sydney for this one, so I will
Speaker 1: come to Melbourne. Let's get that in the diary And
Speaker 1: of course you can see more of Danny Minogue on
Speaker 1: I Kissed a Girl Now streaming on Binge and I
Speaker 1: Kissed a Boy, which is starting this week February twenty
Speaker 1: on Binge, with new episodes on Thursday at eight thirty.
Speaker 1: We'll have a link in the show notes. Danny, all
Speaker 1: the best with the shoot today. Very excited to see
Speaker 1: you on the cover Stella. Thank you so much. You
Speaker 1: can also watch this interview of the Stella Podcast on
Speaker 1: YouTube by following the link in the show notes. Thank
Speaker 1: you for joining me today. If you've enjoyed this episode,
Speaker 1: let us know by leaving a review and make sure
Speaker 1: you're following something to talk about, because we'll be back
Speaker 1: with another exclusive guest next week.