Australian singer and actress Dannii Minogue has opened up about the surprising role that kept her grounded and prevented a dramatic fall from grace after finding fame as a child.
Channeling Rebellion into Acting
The 54-year-old star first captured hearts as a ten-year-old on the iconic show Young Talent Time. However, it was her subsequent casting at age 17 in the Channel Seven soap Home and Away that she credits with setting her on a stable path. Speaking to News Corp ahead of her anticipated return to acting, Minogue explained how she poured her teenage rebellious energy into her character, Emma Jackson, who she played from 1989 to 1990.
"I was speaking with a friend recently and said: 'I got a year of being in physical fights, throwing milkshakes over people, saying the most horrible things'," she revealed. Her friend was shocked, but Dannii believes that year of on-screen chaos was therapeutic. "It was really good for me to act it out because then I never had that rebellion after leaving Young Talent Time," she stated.
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Fame
Minogue directly contrasted her experience with other child stars who have publicly struggled, specifically mentioning Britney Spears. "I never had the Britney Spears shaving my hair off moment," she said emphatically. She feels that exhausting her rebellious phase through her character allowed her to avoid such a public breakdown, calling that year "incredible" for getting it out of her system.
Her resilience was further tested by years of harsh media scrutiny and constant comparisons to her globally famous elder sister, Kylie Minogue, 56. On Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast, Dannii admitted the toll it took. "I've said this to my friends: 'I know that, if I wasn't mentally strong and I did have any kind of eating disorder or something, I wouldn't be alive now.' That is fact," she confessed, describing the criticism as "brutal."
She highlighted the impossible body standards of the time, noting she and Kylie have always had different shapes. "I was a square trying to fit into a hole. You read back now how nasty the comments were," she reflected. Despite attempts to fabricate a rivalry, the sisters remain a united force.
A New Chapter and Return to Screens
Today, Dannii's priorities have shifted. Her focus is on family time with her partner, music producer Adrian Newman, and their 14-year-old son Ethan, born in 2010. She is now selective, only taking on work that feels "important" after a lifetime of missing key family events.
This selective approach brings her back to acting after three decades. She is set to star in the four-part murder mystery The Imposter for Channel Ten. The drama, premiering on Sunday 21 December, will see her share the screen with former Coronation Street star Kym Marsh and Neighbours legend Jackie Woodburne.
Dannii Minogue's journey illustrates a rare narrative in showbusiness: a child star who navigated fame's traps through a combination of a grounding job, fierce mental strength, and a conscious shift towards personal fulfilment in later life.
