‘They deeply resonated with me’: Personal reason behind Dannii Minogue’s next move

As she prepares to unveil her latest project, Dannii Minogue has revealed how her close friendships have influenced her – and calls for ‘more representation’ when it comes to sexuality on screen.

Dannii Minogue has been courted to play TV cupid more than a few times over the years, but it wasn’t until she saw the concept for 2023’s I Kissed A Boy (IKAB) and its spin-off I Kissed A Girl (IKAG) that she found her perfect match.

In the groundbreaking British reality dating series, 10 singles share a kiss – before even exchanging a word – and see whether their initial chemistry, or lack thereof, can evolve into love.

The debut season matched gay men while the new series pairs women.

“I said yes to IKAB and IKAG as they deeply resonated with me,” Minogue tells The Binge Guide.

Picture: Getty Images

“I’ve had a lifetime of amazing friendships with people in the LGBTQIA+ community and have been able to be an ally both personally and professionally, and I hope that with more representation on TV, life will be easier to navigate for the next generation.

“Both my friends and our casts tell me the same thing after watching the show: ‘My life would have been so different if I had a TV show like this when I was growing up.’”

Minogue herself, on the other hand, had the dating series Perfect Match to keep her transfixed in the 1980s.

That popular show sparked a lifelong interest in TV romance for the singer, who now devours anything from The Bachelor and Beauty And The Geek to Indian Matchmaking and Love On The Spectrum. As she puts it simply with a smile, “I’m here for love.”

Filmed in the southern Italian region of Puglia – where the Melbourne-born host says she often enjoyed a glass of prosecco as she watched the sun go down – IKAG radiated its own vibe, which Minogue reveals was vastly different to when the contestants’ house was filled with men for its brother show.

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‘So sassy and so open!’ Dannii Minogue in a scene from her new series, I Kissed a Girl. Picture: Binge

“These ladies are sassy and so open with each other,” she points out.

“Conversation seems to flow at a fast pace, and so do the kisses. The girls stepped into the experience being really open and vulnerable.”

Nonetheless, Minogue says the cast of both iterations appreciated the show’s ban on mobile phones because “taking a break from messages and social media enables time to assess how they really feel about themselves. A lot of personal growth happens across the three weeks that they’re able to then take back into their world at home.”

IKAG has already streamed in the US and the UK, and the women emerged from their Italian villa as newly minted TV stars.

Dannii Minogue’s new series is rewriting the rule book for reality TV dating shows. Picture: Getty Images

During a surprise visit to the Mighty Hoopla music festival in London over the British summer, “they got the loudest roar from the crowd”, recalls Minogue.

Minogue believes the franchise has broken through because in a television landscape where there’s no shortage of dating shows, “our show is full of heart and welcomes everyone in from the first kiss.

“If you think you ‘know’ what the girls will be like, if you think you’re ‘curious’ to know what they will be like, or if you think it will be ‘predictable’, I dare you to watch.”

And with the growing success of the franchise overseas, Minogue is hopeful that she will one day be fronting an Australian version.

“Calls and messages have flooded in from friends of mine that relate to stories and conversations,” she says.

“As a show, we like to think of it as entertainment that’s educational as well. It provokes thoughts and opens up conversations between friends and family that have never been had before.”

I Kissed A Girl is streaming now on Binge, with new episodes dropping on Thursdays and also available on Hubbl. The full interview with Dannii is available in The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA) on December 29.

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