Dannii Minogue was visibly emotional as she recounted her sister Kylie’s ordeal with cancer.
Speaking to Zan Rowe on ABC’s Take 5, the pop star spoke candidly about the time when Kylie, renowned for her hit ‘Love At First Sight’, faced her breast cancer diagnosis in May 2005, which led to a lumpectomy and swift initiation of chemotherapy.
Following the successful operation which saw “no recurrence” of the disease, Kylie returned to the spotlight just two months post-surgery with a visit to the children’s cancer ward at Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
She later headed to France to conclude her chemotherapy, completing it in January 2006, as confirmed by her publicist, reports the Mirror.
In a heartfelt moment during the interview, Dannii opened up about watching her sister being taken from stage and visiting her throughout her chemotherapy sessions. Becoming teary while recalling the tough times, Dannii revealed: “My sister got sick with breast cancer and she was in the middle of a tour.”
She poignantly described supporting Kylie through her recovery: “I remember her getting carried off stage and stuff. When I would go and visit her when she was having chemo and was very, very unwell. I would just jump around to music with her.”
The power of music was a recurring theme as Dannii continued: “It was music that kept us going and she was like, ‘I need to finish the tour!’ Like, she’s so professional. We were like, ‘Oh for god’s sake, we need to keep you alive!’ We knew that was her goal to get back and honour all those tickets. Every single person kept the ticket.”
She recounted Kylie’s triumphant return to performing post-chemotherapy, sharing: “She said, ‘Will you jump on stage with me?’… And the joy when we came out on stage from the audience was unbelievable. You could hear the roar.”
The sisters experienced overwhelming support from their fans during this challenging period.
Dannii spoke of her dear friend Laura’s cancer battle, which ended tragically. She revealed: “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. It was very hard to see her go through this.”
The star opened up about how the ordeal of both her sister and her friend battling cancer marked a bleak chapter in her life, but she found strength through Kylie’s support.
Reflecting on her own health struggles during a 2014 interview on 60 Minutes, Kylie shared insights from her cancer journey, including learning to put herself first. She explained: “Someone had said to me at the time, ‘You need to be a little bit selfish.’ It’s not in my nature to be selfish but now is the time to do that. Let people take care of you. And… that’s what I did.”
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