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You could hear a pin drop,\u201d Kylie Minogue says about the point, in episode two, when she starts crying about the impact her former boyfriend, INXS singer Michael Hutchence<\/a>, had on her. \u201cI\u2019m like, I know I\u2019m going to cry at some point in this goddamn documentary. When\u2019s the point going to be? But I also knew that I was holding on to a lot of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n This month, Netflix released a new three-part documentary<\/a>, simply titled Kylie, exploring the life and times of one of the world\u2019s most enduring (and media-shy) pop stars; the singer behind era-defining tracks such as I Should Be So Lucky, Can\u2019t Get You Out of My Head, Spinning Around and, more recently, Padam Padam<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a triumph; an intimate and affecting tale of an intensely private star, which spans her earliest teenage years as an actress in Neighbours to her incipient pop stardom, global fame, her various stylistic reinventions, her love affairs (notably with her Neighbours co-star Jason Donovan, followed by Hutchence), her initial breast cancer diagnosis in 2005 and, ultimately, the woman she is today.<\/p>\n Above all, it is a moving portrait of a 58-year-old woman that differs from the sort of PR-driven style of documentary content we have become accustomed to of late. Here is Minogue not so much as you\u2019ve never seen her before, but Minogue the person she has chosen not to show us before.<\/p>\n We meet over Zoom, and while I wait for her to appear on screen from her home town of Melbourne, I hear lots of shuffling and groaning in the background. \u201cUrrgggh, am I on?\u201d she says, finally popping up wearing a white baseball cap, a black sleeveless T-shirt and a white oversized Chanel cardigan. \u201cI had to get on my iPhone. Trust me, it\u2019s easier this way. I couldn\u2019t put you through the hassle of me trying to connect on to my laptop. We\u2019ve all got lives to live.\u201d<\/p>\n Her team had warned me in advance that Minogue likes her interviews short, 20 to 30 minutes max. Determined to break that rule, I try to put her at ease. Guess what, I say, we\u2019ve got three things in common. \u201cOooh what?\u201d Well, I used to live on the same street as you during the \u201990s and early noughties. \u201cShut up!\u201d she says, screaming. \u201cI\u2019ve got such good memories of that time. What are the others?\u201d I\u2019m 5 foot 1, too. We both agree life is better in heels. \u201cBut I have recently succumbed to the trainer,\u201d she adds, rolling her eyes. \u201cAnd what\u2019s the third?\u201d Well, we\u2019ve both had cancer. \u201cOh,\u201d she says. She asks when I was diagnosed, but then quickly retreats back into her protective shell. We leave it for now.<\/p>\n The three episodes of the documentary are concisely told through Minogue\u2019s eyes, with each one focusing on a specific decade of her life, namely the \u201980s (it also touches on her years growing up in the \u201970s with her accountant dad, ballet dancer mother and her brother and sister), the \u201990s and then the noughties. She is seen delving through boxes of old photographs, picking out her favourite images and talking to camera, but the real gems are the never-seen-before grainy reels of personal video footage taken during her affairs with Donovan and Hutchence.<\/p>\n Was there anything she chose not to delve into too deeply? I know what she is going to say but I try my luck anyway. \u201cWell, the health issues, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n When Minogue was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, she was forced to make an announcement days after finding out because she was imminently due to perform on stage as part of her Showgirl tour. She had no option but to speak out. \u201cI always knew it would be difficult emotionally revisiting my cancer diagnosis and what that was like, not only for me but also for my family. The basics were documented very publicly at the time, but I felt that if there was ever a time to open up a little more about what that journey has meant for me, this might be it. I had to follow my instinct and let trust dictate that it was OK to let people in. Cancer really is a journey and a life-changer. And I\u2019m one of the lucky ones. I wanted to share this so someone out there feels less alone.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cKylie effect\u201d<\/a>, as it was known at the time, was responsible for a large increase in women in Australia booking mammograms as a result of her speaking up. (In the documentary, Minogue reveals that she experienced a second breast cancer<\/a> diagnosis in 2021, and is \u201cwell today\u201d.)<\/p>\n \u201cYes, verbalising it is useful,\u201d she says, but admits it is not always easy to say everything you\u2019re feeling. \u201cYou open the door, but in doing so you end up overcompensating \u2013 essentially you say too much, as if you\u2019re inviting people to move in, but you\u2019re not. I will talk to a girlfriend for hours about it, my specialist or my family, but it\u2019s not fair to put it out there in neat soundbites. I am so careful to never allude to the fact I\u2019m telling the entire story, because that would be a really long story and you know it\u2019s already complicated and then it gets more complicated and you just want to get on with your life.\u201d<\/p>\n Her hesitancy to speak up, not only about cancer but also life in general, is obvious in the documentary. This is clearly, and understandably, a self-protective measure. She has learnt the hard way from being in the public eye from such a young age. Does she find herself naturally putting up barriers with anyone new she meets? \u201cI\u2019m open with people who are not press,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve been burnt enough times. I\u2019ve been conditioned to answer like I\u2019m playing chess \u2013 and I don\u2019t play chess. But neither do I want to imprison myself. I\u2019m very on\/off, one moment I\u2019ve got a show to do, the next I\u2019m in a top knot at home wearing a thousand-year-old T-shirt.\u201d<\/p>\n Interestingly, the one area she is more voluble about is her love life. The presence, or the importance of, Hutchence looms large throughout; how during their two years together (1989-91) he taught her to be still, true to herself, not to mention how respectful he was of her own artistry despite the vast musical chasm that separated them. Footage of her arriving at his funeral underscores the grief she went through when he unexpectedly died by suicide<\/a> in 1997.<\/p>\n Was he the love of her life? \u201cYes, probably. I\u2019ve had lots of relationships, some were love, some were not. My relationship with him, or our relationship at the time, was not for that long, but it had a profound effect on me.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article I don\u2019t need her to tell me that she and Donovan, another ex, are still good mates. \u201cYeah, yeah, we are. I\u2019ve texted him some doozies while I was looking through all the old photos and video footage of us together. I told him he better start collecting things for his doco.\u201d Was their famous snogging scene on Neighbours the moment of realisation there was something between them? \u201cWe fancied each other. The love story in the show came first and then it became a real thing.\u201d<\/p>\n The whole Minogue family recently got together and watched Kylie. \u201cIt was so emotional watching it with them,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen the Neighbours clip of Scott and Charlene kissing came up, my nephew turned round to me and said, \u2018Oh, that was quite the kiss!\u2019\u201d It sounds like they\u2019re a tight-knit family. \u201cThat\u2019s definitely the case. If I didn\u2019t have that, I don\u2019t know what the story would be. I still need them. I still behave like a little girl around them. Actually, my mum took me to my visit with the optometrist this morning. I could still be 16.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she intend to continue living in Australia? \u201cWe\u2019ll see.\u201d The lure of performance still beats strongly in her bones \u2013 she makes clear in the doco that she lives to perform, to sing and to dance. \u201cIt\u2019s not healthy for me not to do that. If there\u2019s an offer, I\u2019d be there. I\u2019m a \u2018yes\u2019 kind of girl.\u201d<\/p>\n We discuss how the perception of women ageing has changed since we were young and whether it has affected how she sees herself as a performer now. \u201cWhen should a pop star stop being sexy? I got over that hump after cancer. I\u2019m past that now and the younger generation don\u2019t care.\u201d She says her friends are more her own age group, but she spends a lot of time with her team, who are younger. \u201cSomething I find absolutely hilarious absolutely flunks with them.\u201d<\/p>\n Since we are now more than an hour and 15 minutes in, emboldened, I ask, might there be a boyfriend? I expect reticence and obfuscation, so I\u2019m surprised when she says: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t have a boyfriend. I was in a relationship and when that ended I realised I was OK on my own. I\u2019m definitely getting pickier.\u201d Really, so what\u2019s off the table now? \u201cNarcissists. I\u2019ve dated one, and I\u2019m very grateful I now have that knowledge. That\u2019s like my red hot \u2018no\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Next year, Minogue will celebrate the 40th anniversary of her pop career. Are there plans to tour? \u201cI\u2019m probably not meant to say this, but yes, I am.\u201d And what about acting, because, after all, that\u2019s how she started? \u201cI would love to do a musical, to act again, to be in the hands of a director who can get me there.\u201d Who is she listening to now? \u201cSombr<\/a>,\u201d she replies immediately. \u201cI sent him a message or maybe he sent me a message, I don\u2019t know. I put him on one of my playlists for some promo I was doing. I\u2019m no longer shy to send a message to someone when I want them to know they are amazing. Otherwise I love yacht rock<\/a> [soft rock], indie folk. I love Wolf Alice, and the last big show I saw was Coldplay, always Coldplay. I will go to every show they ever do.\u201d She takes a breath then sings. \u201cAnd it was all yellowwwwww.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Kylie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5481a6857a3434650db39f0a319ceb2b25dcc8db.jpeg\")
Kylie says she is single, and has finally worked out how to be \u201cOK on my own\u201d.Darenote<\/p>\n![\"Kylie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1780178291_374_a00c4c4128b876ca338f46f874416d4e3dbe8d16.jpeg\")
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