Tearful Kylie Minogue admits she still finds it 'difficult' to talk about her cancer journey
20 May 2026, 14:11 | Updated: 20 May 2026, 15:09
Australian pop royalty Kylie Minogue opened up about the impact that breast cancer still had on her in an emotional new interview with Heart.
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A tearful Kylie Minogue has recently admitted that she still finds it "difficult" to talk about her gruelling cancer journey, years after receiving the all-clear.
The princess of pop, 57, explained that her harrowing experience with the disease ran "so deep" that she now struggles to explain what truly happened during that period of time in her life.
Speaking to Heart this week about her brand new Netflix docuseries Kylie, the Australian superstar shed light on the way that breast cancer affected her back then, and to this day.
When asked if her terrifying health scare remained tricky to talk about, she confessed: "It's always difficult because it's so deep. It's not that neat to wrap it up and go 'that's what happened, then that happened, then she's all good'".
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The former Neighbours actress was first diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2005 at a time when she was hoping to start a family with her then-boyfriend Oliver Martinez.
Opening up in episode three of Kylie, she explained: "There’s so much more to cancer than you had it, you got through it and you’re fine - or fine for now.
"I was 36 when I got my diagnosis so already it’s - you need to be thinking about children."
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The intimate footage revealed that she decided to delay her chemotherapy treatment in order to have IVF as she was desperate to become a mother at some point.
"I postponed my chemotherapy to try - which was quite scary at the time because you just want it out. Gone. I want to feel safe, I don’t want this.
"But yeah, I did try a few times with IVF, always it was with such a thread of hope. But I couldn’t not try.
"If it had happened it would have been just shy of a miracle. But it didn’t work out that way. One can’t help but wonder what it would have been like - I’m so close to my family. But it wasn’t my path," Kylie sighed.
The intimate look at Kylie's life also revealed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time in early 2021.
Five years ago, doctors delivered the devastating news that the disease had returned following a routine check-up, but this time she decided to deal with it privately.
"I was able to keep that to myself and go through that year, not like the first time," she revealed.
"I didn't feel obliged to tell the world, and actually I just couldn't at the time because I was just a shell of a person."
Two years later, her Grammy-award winning song Padam Padam "opened so many doors" in her career, but she admitted that carrying this huge health secret was taking its toll.
"On the inside I knew that the cancer wasn’t just a blip in my life and I really just needed to say what happened so I could let go of it," Kylie explained.
"Thankfully I got through it again and all is well," revealing why the Netflix series felt like the right time to reveal what she'd been through.
"Making this documentary has meant looking back at so many pivotal moments in my life and this was another one.
"I also know there will be someone out there who will benefit from a gentle reminder to do their check-ups.
"As part of my routine check-ups in 2021, I was diagnosed with a second primary breast cancer. Early detection was very helpful and I am so grateful to be able to say that I am well today."
Reaching someone who may be going through the same experience as her is one of Kylie's goals for her latest project.
She told Heart: "There's a few emotional moments in the docuseries and that's life, that's life for all of us, so I hope that people see a reflection of themselves somewhere in the series."
- READ MORE: Kylie Minogue admits breast cancer ‘ruined her chances of motherhood’
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