Dannii Minogue gets honorary doctorate

Australian singer Dannii Minogue has been conferred with an honorary doctorate in recognition of her services to the entertainment industry.

"I'm honoured to receive this award, it came as a complete shock," femalefirst.co.uk quoted Minogue as saying.

Minogue wore a traditional cap and gown while accepting an honorary Doctor of Media award from Southampton Solent University, England.

"Her international career stands as evidence of the personal success that can be achieved with talent, persistence and hard work. Dannii Minogue has made a major contribution to the entertainment industry and is an outstanding role model," said a spokesperson of the university.

Dannii Minogue rushed to hospital

Dannii Minogue was rushed to hospital on Saturday after suffering from stomach pains, it has been revealed.

The singer, who has baby Ethan with her partner Kris Smith, was said to be doubled up in pain before seeking medical help.

Doctors diagnosed her with acute appendicitis and rushed her in for emergency surgery which she underwent within two hours of arriving at the West London hospital.

She had spent this week under 24-hour care but is now convalescing at home after being discharged yesterday.

A source told The Sun: "Dannii had an onset of extreme pain at the weekend and was rushed to hospital.

"The doctors managed a quick diagnosis so it was decided she should have her appendix taken out there and then.

"They managed to operate on her very soon after she arrived so she was out of the woods quickly, but obviously it was a huge shock to her system and she spent several days recovering.

"Obviously it has been tough as she has baby Ethan to care for her. Kris has been holding the fort."

A spokesman for the 39-year-old said: "Dannii was taken into hospital on Saturday with pains in her stomach.

"She was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and had an emergency operation to remove her appendix. She is now convalescing."

Weight loss regimes scares Dannii Minogue

Australian singer Dannii Minogue is scared of going for drastic weight loss regimes after watching a close friend 'nearly die' in a battle against anorexia.

"I'd been very good friends with this girl since primary school. I distinctly remember going into a white hospital room and seeing her lying there, strapped to the bed. I was just a young teenager and it was so horrendous. I watched my friend nearly die from anorexia," she told a magazine.

Minogue has struggled with public scrutiny of her figure, but credits her self-confidence with helping her overcome the criticism, reports contactmusic.com.

"There was no headline that someone could write about me that would make me do that to myself... There were some horrific headlines. Had I not been confident about myself and my body, I would have been in a load of trouble," she added.

Dannii: 'I was Kylie's fat, ugly sister'

Dannii Minogue has admitted that she is enjoying not being in her sister Kylie's shadow.

The X Factor judge told Marie Claire that she struggled to achieve success in the UK because of her sister's popularity.

"When I first came over, it was hard because it was Kyliemania," she confessed. "She was this cute little thing and I was the fat, ugly sister.

"Can you imagine for years being asked what it’s like to be Kylie's sister?"

She added: "I guess it's my turn now to enjoy what is going right."


Dannii Minogue 'ignored Kylie comparisons'

Dannii Minogue has said that the success of her sister Kylie's career never made her "jealous".

According to the Daily Mail, the X Factor judge and popstar reveals in her autobiography My Story that press comparisons between the two siblings did not affect the pair's relationship or the "love and support" that they gave each other.

Minogue wrote: "Ever since I arrived in the UK in 1991, the media have pitted us against one another, first favouring my supposed 'cooler, darker' image over Kylie's bubblegum sweetness, then turning on me with a deluge of unflattering comparisons.

"Never mind that Dannii has had ten Top 10 records - Kylie has had 20! Never mind that Dannii's album has gone gold - Kylie's has gone platinum! Less success was no success at all as far as my critics were concerned. As much as it broke my heart at times, it never made me any less proud and supportive of my sister, and I received the same love and support from her."

The 38-year-old also said that she never compared her own career to Kylie's, adding: "The truth is I never felt as if I was competing with my sister. Although I got very tired of the constant comparisons, it wasn't because I was jealous. I think all the Dannii-bashing headlines often hurt Kylie more than they hurt me."

My Story is published on September 30.

Dannii Minogue reveals Kylie cancer support

Dannii Minogue has spoken about how she supported her sister Kylie throughout her treatment for breast cancer.

Writing in her autobiography My Story, Dannii said that her role was "to keep her as occupied and happy as possible".

Dannii said that she visited Kylie regularly during her chemotherapy treatment in Paris. "My most important job was to keep her as occupied and happy as possible and do whatever it was she wanted to do," she explained.

"If Kylie wanted to go for a walk, we walked around pretty boutiques on the streets around her apartment building. If she wanted to do a Sudoku puzzle then fall asleep, I'd sit quietly with her.

"And if she wanted to watch Ready Steady Cook or The Weakest Link on TV every night, then we'd do that, too."

The X Factor judge added: "Sometimes I'd put on some music, and I'd encourage her to get up and dance around the living room with me. I was keen to get that little performance fairy inside her moving and telling her, 'Yes. You will get back on stage. You absolutely will, and then everything will be as it should be.'

"As the days turned into weeks, my admiration for her grew and grew."

Dannii Minogue expecting baby girl?

Dannii Minogue is expecting a baby girl, Kris Smith has reportedly let slip.

The model was at a charity event in Australia when he accidentally revealed the child's sex, The Mirror reports.

"There's been a few sleepless nights but it will be all worth it to see her beautiful little face," he said.

Smith and Minogue know the sex but have been keeping it a secret ahead of their first child's expected arrival in July.

Debt forced Dannii Minogue to strip for Playboy

Dannii Minogue has revealed that she decided to bare all for Playboy mag when she found herself in the midst of a financial crisis after her split with ex-hubby Julian McMahon in 1995. The singer then decided to strip her way to money in order to pay her 150,000-pound debt rather then asking her superstar sis Kylie for help.

"My parents didn't want me to do it. My dad was saying, ''Doing this is forever - you can never, ever change it''," the Daily Express quoted Dannii, as saying.

"Kylie knew why I was doing it - I could have asked her for the money, but it wasn't in my nature. I never wanted to admit the trouble I was in. I should have been looking at my finances,” she said.

She added, "I would never disclose how much - but it had to be a lot to look at my parents'' faces and see the anguish in my dad's eyes.

"I don't regret it, but I feel relieved that people know why I did it - it''s a huge weight off my shoulders. It was actually fun and I did feel liberated. I looked at the pictures and thought, ''I look alright!''

"The magazine was the biggest selling title they''d ever had and they had to reprint. My girlfriends went out to buy it and told me I looked beautiful. It then felt like a celebration of me."