Dannii Minogue: Behind the mask

A Jason Grech gown she saw on Instagram a day after it strutted the runway during Melbourne Fashion Festival in March was enough to get celebrity Dannii Minogue on the phone to her stylist, insisting she had to have it. 

It’s no accident Minogue has chosen Melbourne’s biggest names in couture to create her custom wardrobe for the third season of The Masked Singer. With the pandemic all but halting our chances to wear a ballgown and party frock because couch life is our new front row – Dannii is doing it for us.

From a custom-made Jason Grech black gown that required three fittings and added embellishments to a hot pink mini dress with glitter and a JG logo plastered all over it, Minogue is embracing her inner disco for the hot seat of The Masked Singer with pops of neon too. 

“Jason is adorable, and with so many couture designers crippled by the pandemic because weddings and big parties aren’t happening, I wanted to do my bit to help them out,” Dannii Minogue says.

 “I rang Rachel [Dennis], my stylist, and she got the ball rolling. We filmed this season in Sydney and kept doing fittings in between lockdowns in Melbourne, it was crazy, but we got there in the end.”

Minogue also worked with Hawthorn’s couture queen Sonia Capellazzo for extra pieces. 

“Sonia’s a family friend and recently made the outfits for Tina Arena’s concert. Seeing that earlier this year feels like a lifetime ago now, but I am a big fan of what she does, and I love wearing these beautiful pieces that show off what’s made in Melbourne,” Minogue says.

The Masked Singer is the feel-good family TV viewing we’ve all been waiting for. It’s loud, singalong, suspenseful and entertainment on steroids. Minogue joins Dave Hughes and Jackie O in an action-packed show you can play at home. This year they introduce new characters who join the competition, including a kebab, a baby, a mullet and a pinata. 

“It’s a chance to sit down and watch something fun with your family and scream at the telly and be silly,” Minogue says. 

“We all need a bit of that in lockdown. It was well-received last year. I loved getting out of my PJs and jeans to get dressed up every day. I know I’m lucky I’ve been able to work; I don’t take any of it for granted either,” she says.

Away from her TV role, Minogue has joined Listnr — playing old-school ’90s hits and presenting The 90s podcast. She’s also into her seventh year of working with Target on her Petites range and back to home-schooling with her son Ethan, 11.

“I’ve just spent the morning trying to get The Spice Girls to do an interview for my podcast,” says Minogue as she takes this call. 

For Minogue, the ’90s were fun and carefree – and she still likes to channel an element of it in her wardrobe on The Masked Singer. It was the era in which she wore crop tops and platform heels but says, for the most part, she has swapped party outfits for casual attire these days. 

“I’m not J-Lo, I don’t work out four hours a day, and I tend to cover up the stomach these days,” she smiles. 

“I loved the fashion of the ’90s, though. To me, it reminds me of when I was living in London and working Europe every weekend doing gigs. It was me and four dancers on the road for five years. They were certainly ‘pinch me’ career moments. I was lucky to do all that travel back then,” Minogue says. 

Life in Melbourne lockdown means she tries to get out for her daily walks and exercise with her son, but just how hard is it to get out when you’re Dannii Minogue? 

“It’s as hard as you make it in your mind,” she says. 

“You want to be a part of the world and hope that people respect that I am trying to be healthy, and I do need to take my son to a park and don’t want to be held prisoner inside my home,” she says.

Minogue, who turns 50 in October, says getting older doesn’t bother her.

“I read something the other day that said turning 50 is like a mid-life celebration. That’s how I’ll be looking at it,” she says. 

With a grandmother turning 102 in December, Minogue is hoping she’s blessed with the same genes. “I hope I’ve reached my halfway mark with plenty to go. My grandmother grew up on a dairy farm, and they lived off the land. She’s all about healthy eating, cooking and preparing your own food, and she always wants something with mushrooms in it – maybe that’s the secret,” she says.

But knowing her good friend, the late music industry icon Michael Gudinski isn’t around to wish her a happy birthday this year doesn’t make it any easier either.

“The hardest part of this year was losing Michael,” Minogue says. 

“I am so glad we got to celebrate his life as we weren’t in lockdown, but it’s a huge loss for the Australian music industry and for Melbourne. It is still so emotional to think about it even now without crying when I speak about him. He pushed us all to be better and work together; he didn’t just care about the big stars, he loved the road crew, he loved everyone that made music happen with him.”

THE MASKED SINGER / Mondays, 7.30pm, Ten

https://10play.com.au/the-masked-singer