‘So broken’: Dannii Minogue opens up about private tragedy on Take 5 with Zan Rowe

Dannii Minogue broke down in a new TV interview as she opened up about a private loss she wasn’t ready to share publicly at the time.

Dannii Minogue has opened up about her sister’s cancer journey in an emotional new interview, revealing Kylie’s cancer battle coincided with the death of her closest friend to the same disease.

Minogue appeared as the first guest on Take 5 with Zan Rowe, airing 8:30pm tonight on the ABC, which sees guests share five records that have helped shape their lives.

One of Minogue’s choices, her sister’s 2000 Robbie Williams duet Kids, led to a discussion of Kylie’s breast cancer diagnosis in 2005.

The diagnosis forced the postponement of the planned Australian leg of Kylie’s Showgirl tour, and saw the already close-knit Minogue family rally around her as she underwent gruelling treatment.

Dannii choked back tears as she spoke about that difficult period.

Dannii Minogue on Take 5 with Zan Rowe.

Kylie in 2006, as she underwent cancer treatment.

“She wanted to finish the tour, because she’s so professional. I was like, ‘for god’s sake, we need to keep you alive!’ But we knew that was her goal,” she explained.

“And in the process of getting her better, it was music that carried us through. When I would go and visit her when she was having chemo and very, very unwell, I would jump around to music with her to get some good vibes happening.”

When Kylie was finally well enough to resume the tour, Dannii joined her onstage in Melbourne, the sisters uniting to perform Kids together.

Kylie back on stage – with her sister there to lend support.

Kylie’s story had a happy ending, but it was when Dannii opened up about another, more private health battle that she really broke down.

She played Lowe Ultra Nate’s song Free in honour of her “up, fun, wild” best friend Laura, who died of an aggressive form of cancer not long after Kylie had finished her own treatment.

“My sister had cancer, my sister recovered, and it was a wild ride for our family. And then my friend Laura had cancer. She was staying with me and said she had a pain in her back – an hour later she was in the foetal position. She went into hospital and she never came out again,” she explained.

“It was very, very hard to see her go through this,” she said, breaking down.

Dannii and Laura (left) were best friends.

Laura’s death left Dannii “so broken.”

Dannii recalled travelling from London, where both she and Laura, lived back to Australia to perform at a concert, promising her ailing friend that she’d be back to see her in a week.

“I knew when I got on that plane I was never going to see her again, I just knew it,” she confessed.

“And I found out she’d passed just before I had to go on stage. I was in such shock.”

That private tragedy led to an especially dark time: Everywhere she went, people congratulated her on her sister’s cancer recovery, not realising she was grieving the death of her best friend from the same disease.

“I wanted to celebrate with them but inside I was broken, I was so broken,” she said.

An active cancer charity supporter, Dannii recently collaborated with Canteen Australia, who support youth aged 12-15 impacted by cancer, to create the ‘Bandannii’ collection ahead of Canteen’s National Bandanna Day on October 24. Funds raised from the collection will go towards helping Canteen provide life-changing support to young people who have faced a cancer diagnoses themselves, or that of a parent or sibling.

Take 5 with Zan Rowe airs 8:30pm Tuesdays on ABC, and the full season is now available to stream on iView.

Originally published as ‘So broken’: Dannii Minogue opens up about private tragedy on Take 5 with Zan Rowe