Dannii Minogue: I would not be alive today if I had listened to online trolls

Former X Factor judge Dannii Minogue has revealed the impact that public scrutiny has had on her mental health.

The singer and sister of Kylie Minogue has said that her resilience in the face of "nasty" comments about her appearance has been crucial.

The 53-year-old Australian singer and TV presenter spoke out about the constant comparisons she faced with her older sister and the relentless pressure to emulate her sister's slim physique.

She said it took a significant toll and Minogue credits her ability to withstand the negativity as a key factor in her well-being today.

“The hardest time I had was not long after I arrived in the UK, and photographers were literally throwing themselves on the ground to get angles and shoot up your your dress and your skirt,” she told the Happy Place podcast with Fearne Cotton.

“It was horrendous. So I had that, I was 19 when I arrived, I’m still a teenager.

“And then, not only to have all of that, all the monitors, all the press, all the feedback I was then compared to my sister, who’s (got a) completely different body shape, always has been our entire lives.

“I wasn’t living up to her body, which at the time, fitted the standards of what the only body shape there was, slim.

“Now, there’s so much based around curves, that’s always been me, yet I was like a square trying to fit through a hole, still, do what I was doing, still evolve out of a teenager into a woman, on my own, at the other side of the world.”

Minogue, who was known for playing Emma Jackson in the hit television series Home And Away, released her debut single, Love And Kisses, aged 19 in 1990.

Kylie was launched to fame in the late 1980s as Charlene Mitchell on Australian soap Neighbours and went on to pursue a successful singing career with hits including Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.

Minogue said: “You read back how nasty the comments were, so, there were so many levels I was trying to negotiate and I had to keep reminding myself, if I wasn’t reading this or hearing it, do I get up in the morning and am I happy with myself? I am.

“And at the time, I was so mentally strong, and I’ve said this to my friends, I’m like, ‘I know that if I wasn’t mentally strong and I did have any kind of eating disorder, I would not be alive now.’

“That is fact. It was so brutal and it went on for years, but it did have a delayed effect later on.

“When I look back, you know that time to breathe and reflect, and I felt like an idiot, it’s like, ‘Why did you stay in that position where you allowed that to happen to you?’

“But it was the industry, it was what was normal, if you want this job as a pop singer, especially female pop singer in the 90s, this is what it looks like, and this is what it’s only ever going to look like, so it’s either your career or not.

“And I’m like, I’ve worked my entire life for this. I’ve moved halfway around the world. Am I gonna let these few comments get me?

“But like, looking back on it, I’m angry at myself, I’m mad, but I’m proud of myself.

“What else could you do? And you got through it, and you’re alive, and you’re really kind of a little bit confused, but, hey, if that’s as bad as it is, that’s alright.

“But, yeah, it got me years later, which is the best case scenario when I could deal with it. Thank God it didn’t take hold in any other shape at the time.”

The singer, who has had hits with Baby Love and Success, has also hosted reality dating shows I Kissed A Boy and I Kissed A Girl.