Kylie Minogue urges people to get check-ups after revealing second breast cancer diagnosis

Kylie Minogue has revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time in 2021 and has encouraged everyone to undergo regular check-ups after her condition was picked up following a routine screening.

The announcement was tied to the end of the third part of her documentary, Kylie, which lands on Netflix today. In the promotional materials accompanying the series’ launch, Minogue said she was diagnosed with a second primary breast cancer in 2021.

Minogue, who is now in remission, said the cancer was picked up in 2021 after a routine check-up.

“Early detection was very helpful, and I am so grateful to be able to say that I am well today,” she said.

When Minogue was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, the news made headlines across the world and reporters tracked every increment of her journey, including while she sought intensive chemotherapy in Paris.

This part of her life was deeply hinted at in the Netflix trailer, when a portion of it was dedicated to a montage of the coverage of her cancer.

So the second time around, she decided to fight the battle in private and take ownership of announcing the news herself.

“I don’t feel obliged to tell the world,” Minogue says in the docuseries, teary-eyed. “And actually, I couldn’t at the time because I was just a shell of a person.”

Though she didn’t feel obligated to reveal her diagnosis at the time, she said making the documentary encouraged her to reflect on the pivotal moments in her life, her second cancer diagnosis being one of them.

She said she hopes her decision to share this part of her life on-screen will gently remind viewers to undergo regular check-ups.

“There are so many people for whom cancer is part of their life and, I get it; you just want to move on and put it in the past or park it to the side,” she said. “But, check-ups are incredibly important. It can be daunting and triggering, but please be mindful of just how vital they are – and reach out for help if you need it, you’re not alone.”

In the documentary, Minogue says she continued working as her diagnosis weighed heavily in the backdrop – particularly when she wrote her song Story for her 2023 album Tension.

“I had a secret that I kept to myself, yeah,” she sings live in the docuseries, shakily. “I had a one-way ticket that was going nowhere.”

In the documentary, she describes feeling “removed” from her body when she was first diagnosed with cancer. “I was so scared of what was ahead of me,” she says.

“We didn’t know if she was ever going to be well again,” her sister, Dannii, says in a separate interview for the documentary. “But I just wanted to be with my sister.

“Music kept us going.”

When she began writing Story, she said she knew she would one day share the meaning behind the song; however, finding the right time proved tricky.

“I didn’t imagine it would be in a documentary but, perhaps it found its own time and place,” she said in a Q&A, released as part of the series′ promotion.

On May 18, Minogue stepped out onto the red carpet for the docuseries launch, flanked by Dannii and former Neighbours co-star Jason Donovan, who appears in the show along with musician Nick Cave and music producer Pete Waterman.

It is directed by Michael Harte, an Emmy and BAFTA award-winner, and produced by John Battsek’s Ventureland (both were behind Netflix’s hit docuseries on footballer David Beckham).