Star says sister’s cancer diagnosis was the straw that broke the camel’s back

Sep 23, 2009 17:21 GMT  ·  By
Dannii Minogue says depression and low body confidence made her turn to Botox
   Dannii Minogue says depression and low body confidence made her turn to Botox

The Minogue sisters, Kylie and Dannii, were very open in the past about the long-gone days when they too became heavy users of Botox, which had often made them look “frozen” in publicity shots and on the red carpet. Similarly, both vouch they have made the decision to age naturally and gracefully, with Dannii now opening to The Sun about the depression that completely shattered her body confidence and made her turn to the regular jabs to hold on to her youthful looks.

In May 2005, Kylie was diagnosed with breast cancer – it was then that the ordeal began for Dannii, the X Factor judge tells the British tabloid. Her career was at a very low point, and then she got the news of her sister’s cancer. As if that wasn’t enough to send her into depression, shortly afterwards, a close friend of hers also passed away, which brought Dannii so low, she admittedly could hardly look at herself in the mirror. She turned to Botox to help her boost her diminished body confidence and, for a while, it actually worked, she says.

“My sister was sick, then my best friend died soon after – I felt I’d been hit by a wave. I couldn’t deal with the stress. I couldn’t deal with having to look at my face. It was a personal thing of having to get through a lot of sadness. At first, it was something fun I tried, then it became a necessity.” Dannii says. However, she can honestly say she’s now in a much better place, as her career is flourishing again, while her love life has gotten a much needed boost with the arrival of model Kris Smith. “I don’t need Botox now and don’t want it. Life is just so different now.” Dannii adds.

In fact, her life is so much better now that she wouldn’t even dream of using Botox again, since she understands there is more to this than just having no wrinkles and walking around with a permanently frozen expression on her face. She and Kris have even talked about starting a family and maybe having children. As for her looks, Dannii has enough confidence in herself now to know she can accept growing old.

Not long ago, the 38-year-old star was admitting to having used Botox for the first time, saying she had decided to forego the “plastic” look. “I see the comments. Plastic. All Botox. I can see what people see, but I have to say that – while I have been open about doing it – I’m not doing it now. For The X Factor, it is actually quite useful to be able to have facial expressions!” Dannii revealed in a recent interview.