‘I was so scared’: Dannii Minogue reveals paparazzi ordeal

Dannii Minogue has opened up about an ‘out of body experience’ with the paparazzi that left her feeling like there was a ‘price on our heads’, as she makes emotional comments about sister Kylie.

Dannii Minogue has opened up about being hounded by paparazzi to the point that “my whole body shook” while she was dealing with illness in the aftermath of the birth of her son.

In a revealing interview with the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About, Minogue said she felt like “there was a target … a price on our heads” just after she gave birth to her son, Ethan, in 2010.

“I would come out of the maternal health centre … and there would be a [paparazzi] car outside the door,” Minogue told Something To Talk About.

“There was a car and maybe three photographers lying on top of it with long lens cameras, like you would see if somebody was in Africa with a rifle looking to shoot an animal.

“I was used to having paparazzi around … [but] I shook, my whole body shook. I was so scared.

Minogue called it an “out of body experience”.

Dannii Minogue has recalled being pursued by the paparazzi in the wake of her son’s birth in 2010. Picture: Steven Chee Stellar

Listen to Dannii Minogue on the Stellar podcast Something To Talk About:

Minogue said she was forced to have a frank conversation with an editor – who had previously published paparazzi photos of Minogue – which resulted in their not purchasing unauthorised photos of Minogue again.

“I remember sending the pictures to an editor to say, ‘these pictures with this background, to put in context … we are captive. I cannot go to a health check … I need to go to [because of paparazzi]!’

It came as Minogue praised Stellar’s policy not to ask women about their reproductive plans – introduced in 2019.

Dannii Minogue is on the cover of today’s Stellar. Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

Speaking on Something To Talk About, Minogue said: “I remember when that policy change happened and it was so groundbreaking”.

“[You’re] still going to get amazing interviews and probably way better because you haven’t put someone in that fight or flight situation because you don’t know what’s going on internally [with their bodies].”

In the interview, Minogue, now 53, talks about how confronting mortality – such as when her sister Kylie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 – changed her view on ageing.

“I remember when Kylie was really sick and there was the chance that we were going to lose her,” an emotional Minogue told Stellar.

‘Chance we were going to lose her …’ Dannii Minogue (right) has made rare comments about how her sister Kylie’s cancer battle in 2005 changed her perspective on life. Picture: David Swift

Listen to Dannii Minogue on the Stellar podcast Something To Talk About:

“As she recovered and the world was celebrating, we were all celebrating. I lost my best friend to cancer and I was grieving.

“And at the same time, there were so many articles about women: What does she look like? How old is she? The first line of any interview – Kylie, da da da, age. Dannii, or whoever, you know, Prime Minister – does she look good for her age, or does she not?

“Because if she doesn’t look good for her age, she’s of no value to anybody. And I just thought, you know, age is such a privilege, whatever that looks like”.

See the full shoot and read the interview with Dannii Minogue in Stellar today, inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA).

For more from Stellar click here and listen to Dannii’s episode of Something To Talk About wherever you get your podcasts.

Originally published as ‘I was so scared’: Dannii Minogue reveals paparazzi ordeal