Dannii Minogue

Dannii Minogue (born 20.10.1971)

Dannii Minogue is an Australian actress and television personality. Her sister is the pop singer Kylie Minogue.

Dannii Minogue: Childhood

Dannii Minogue was born in Melbourne, Australia, to Ron Minogue and Carol Jones. As well as her sister Kylie, she also has a brother, Brendan, a news cameraman.

As a child, Dannii Minogue began to appear in Australian TV shows such as Skyways and The Sullivans. She went on to appear on Young Talent Time, recording cover versions of Madonna songs such as 'Material Girl'. When she left the Young Talent Time stable, she returned to acting, with a role in Home and Away, where she earned herself a Silver Logie award for Most Popular Actress on Australian television.

Dannii Minogue: Music Career

In 1989, Dannii Minogue signed a record deal with Mushroom Records. Her debut album was entitled Dannii and reached number 24 on the Australian charts. Outside of Australia, the album was named Love and Kisses.

Dannii Minogue's second album was entitled Get Into You and was released in 1993. The album spawned the singles 'Show You The Way To Go' and 'This Is It'. The album failed to make the top 50 in the UK and Minogue returned to television work, presenting The Big Breakfast.

Two years later, Minogue reprised her pop career, with the singles 'Rescue Me' and 'Boogie Woogie', which was a collaborative effort with Eurogroove. Both tracks reached number one in Japan.

Steve 'Silk' Hurley's dance remixes of Minogue's tracks led to her becoming interesting in dance music and club culture. His in turn influenced the style of her next album, Girl, which was released in 1997. The album featured collaborations with the likes of Brian Higgins of Xenomania.

The Riva / Dannii Minogue single 'Who Do You Love Now?' was released in 2001 and reached number three in the UK singles charts. This was followed with the release of the album Neon Nights - one of the best -received releases of her career.

After being dropped by London Records in 2004, she started working with Roselyn Della Sabina and signed a new contract with All Around The World Records. In October that year, she released the single 'You Won't Forget About Me' with the dance act Flower Power. The following year, she released 'Perfection' with the Soul Seekerz.

Dannii Minogue: Television Career

1996 saw Dannii Minogue return to presenting the UK breakfast show The Big Breakfast. She also briefly presented Disney Time and Top of the Pops.

Dannii Minogue was selected as a judge on Australia's Got Talent in 2007. Her fellow judges on the show were Red Symons and Tom Burlinson. She was then selected to appear as a judge on the fourth series of the UK show The X Factor. The show, devised by Simon Cowell also featured Cowell as a judge, as well as Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne. Osbourne was later replaced by Girls Aloud's Cheryl Cole and the media have made much of a supposed rivalry between Cole and Minogue. In the first series, two of her chosen contestants, Rhydian Roberts and Leon Jackson. In the eighth series of the show, she was given the Over-25 category. None of her chosen contestants - Rachel Hylton, Daniel Evans and Ruth Lorenzo - made it to the semi-final. Minogue's suitability for being a judge on the show was contested by a number of celebrities, including Noel Gallagher, Graham Norton and Ronan Keating. She returned to the show in 2009.

It has been reported that Dannii Minogue has auditioned for roles in Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives.

Dannii Minogue: Stage Career

Dannii Minogue made her stage debut in 1997, playing Rizzo in an Australian version of Grease: The Arena Spectacular.

Dannii then returned to the stage in 1999 when she played Lady Macbeth in a production of Macbeth by William Shakespeare at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

In 2001, Minogue appeared in a poorly-received version of Notre Dame de Paris. That same year, she featured alongside Meera Syal and Kika Markham in The Vagina Monologues.

Dannii Minogue: Personal Life

Dannii Minogue married Julian McMahon in 1994. They divorced in 1995. She was briefly engaged to the Formula One driver Jacques Villeneuve but the pair never married. Her relationship with the Bros singer Craig Logan was also short-lived.

In 2008, it was announced that Dannii Minogue had started dating Kris Smith, an ex Rugby League player.