Dannii Minogue - Acting, Presenting and Television

Acting, Presenting and Television

Minogue's other main TV project in 2008 came on 20 September when she presented the Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards 2008 ceremony. Minogue also appeared as a judge and mentor in the fourth series of ITV's The X Factor, alongside Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne. She mentored the boys category during the show and selected Leon Jackson, Rhydian Roberts and Andy Williams to represent her in the live rounds of the competition. In an interview reflecting on her first year with the show, Minogue commented: "I've finally been accepted as me. It's a fantastic opportunity, for once, not to be compared with Kylie. At last, I've found my own slot". Ultimately, two of her chosen acts, Rhydian Roberts and Leon Jackson, became the final two, with Jackson eventually becoming the winner on 15 December after topping the public vote. Minogue was the first female judge to win the show.

Minogue returned to British television in August 2008 as a judge on The X Factor, alongside Cowell, Walsh and Cheryl Cole, who replaced Osbourne. Following the initial auditions and Boot Camp stages of the competition, Minogue was assigned the Over 25s category to mentor. She chose Daniel Evans, Rachel Hylton and Ruth Lorenzo as her final three contestants for the series and was assisted by Spice Girls Emma Bunton. In the eighth live show, Minogue lost her final act as Lorenzo was eliminated from the competition, leaving her without a contestant in the semi-final. Minogue stated that she was proud of her performance on the series as she had kept the Over 25s category intact until week six of the competition, which was a record for the show.

Throughout the series, several people in the entertainment industry, including Ronan Keating, Noel Gallagher and Graham Norton questioned Minogue's judging credentials and mentoring ability. Additionally, there were a series of tabloid reports claiming that Minogue was jealous of newcomer Cheryl Cole and that this had led to backstage tension. However, Minogue repeatedly denied the rumours, as did Cole, who claimed that the reports were based on "a stupid stereotype which is not true". On 23 November, during a live broadcast of the programme, Minogue broke down in tears and was unable to introduce one of her acts, Rachel Hylton, following an on-air row with Louis Walsh over a choice of song. Despite the controversies, she proved popular in public votes and polls. Minogue later stated that she did not enjoy her experience on the fifth series and "would never want to go through that again".

On 10 October 2009, while providing comments on The X Factor regarding contestant Danyl Johnson's performance of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", Minogue sparked controversy by remarking that "If we're to believe everything we read in the papers, maybe you didn't need to change the gender reference in it.", after Johnson had spoken in a newspaper interview about being bisexual. Danyl appeared visibly upset and responded: "I'm not ashamed." The comment prompted immediate outrage from viewers demanding Minogue's dismissal from the show. On the following night, Minogue apologised on air and said that her comments were not meant in the way that they were taken. The media regulator Ofcom later dismissed almost 4,000 complaints about the matter and cleared Minogue of any wrongdoing. Minogue was assisted at judges houses by her sister, Kylie Minogue.

On 13 January 2010, Minogue and her boyfriend Kris Smith announced that she was pregnant with her first child. Minogue later stated that, as her baby's expected arrival in July would clash with filming for The X Factor, she would be unable to appear in the audition episodes for series 7. On 3 July, Minogue tweeted to fans that "Team Minogue is back!" Later on 11 June, ITV announced that Minogue would return for the programme's Judges' Houses stage, with guest judges taking her place until then.

Minogue returned to The X Factor in September 2010 for Judges Houses, selecting Nicolo Festa, Matt Cardle and Aiden Grimshaw for her final three, with Paije Richardson as her wildcard act. Minogue was assisted by fellow Australian and friend Natalie Imbruglia who was a guest judge in Birmingham that year filling in for Minogue. Cardle was her only act to make it into the final and eventually won after Festa left on week one and Grimshaw and Richardson were eliminated in two consecutive weeks, week six and seven. This meant that Minogue was the winning mentor for the second time.

On 14 May 2011, it was announced that she would not be appearing in the eighth series of The X Factor. Of her decision, Minogue said "During discussions for me to return (to The X Factor) it became clear that unfortunately, this year, the X Factor audition dates in the UK clash with the live shows of Australia's Got Talent during June and July. For this reason I am unable to return."

In 2007, Minogue was hired by Simon Cowell to become a judge on Network 7 variety show Australia's Got Talent along with Red Symons and Tom Burlinson when it first premiered. It was after this series that Minogue was offered the role on The X Factor after Simon Cowell thought she proved good as a judge on Australia's Got Talent. She returned to the panel for seasons two and three in 2008 and 2009.

It was also confirmed in early 2010 that Australia's Got Talent would return for a fourth season. Minogue was the only original judge to remain on the panel as producers revamped the series. Brian McFadden and Kyle Sandilands took the places of Red Symons and Tom Burlinson.

Minogue returned to Australia's Got Talent as a judge in 2011 for the fifth series. She will also return for season six which will air in 2012.

In 2010, it was rumoured that Minogue had been offered a role on the Australian version of the The X Factor as a judge for the newly revamped second series. However, she declined and the roles eventually went to Natalie Imbruglia, Kyle Sandilands, Ronan Keating and Guy Sebastian, with Mel B and Natalie Bassingthwaighte replacing Sandilands and Imbruglia in 2011.

In January 2012, Minogue appeared on the ITV documentary The Talent Show Story where she talked about her time on The X Factor and working on talent shows. Other X Factor judges who were interviewed included Gary Barlow, Louis Walsh, Kelly Rowland and Simon Cowell as well as the host Dermot O'Leary.

In April 2012 it was reported that Minogue was in talks with ITV and Simon Cowell to return to The X Factor as a judge as replacement for Kelly Rowland who will not return in 2012. It has already been confirmed that Gary Barlow, Louis Walsh and Tulisa Contostavlos will return to the panel. On 17 May 2012, it was suggested that Minogue had turned down a one million pound deal from Simon Cowell and ITV producers to return to the show. The role was then taken by Nicole Scherzinger.