"Kylie's this perfect human being and I'm not." Dannii Minogue on being compared to her older sister.

“It’s really annoying. I remember there was a lot of stuff written about my weight and comparing my size and physique to my sister and the general crux of it was Kylie’s this perfect human being and I’m not.”

This has been Dannii Minogue’s reality for 47 years.

Constantly compared and critiqued against her older sister Kylie.

You only have to watch her reaction when Anh Do, on his ABC program Brush with Fame, asks her about the constant comparison to understand her boredom with it.

“It’s soooo annoying Anh,” she groans when he dares to bring it up.

You can watch their conversation here. Post continues after video.

Anyone who has a sister close in age knows this feeling all too well.

Especially if you are the younger sibling.

Your every move is analysed against theirs.

Your life choices, your career, your boyfriends (or girlfriends).

Your older sibling came first, they paved the way.

 

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Happy Birthday to my big sister ???? Now for a new year of fun and festivities. Love from Sister Disco xx

A post shared by danniiminogue (@danniiminogue) on May 27, 2019 at 10:32am PDT

Now imagine if your sibling relationship was then analysed on a national or global stage.

Welcome to the world of Kylie and Dannii Minogue.

“I guess I am lucky that I was like a feisty character I didn’t have a problem with it,” Dannii told Do.

“I probably would have had some kind of eating disorder and some really bad mental issues dealing with it. I’m just glad I am a strong person. Maybe in a way… you’re attracted to this job… cause you’ve got to have a thick skin,” she hypothesised.

If we go back to the start, it was actually Dannii that first rose to stardom.

Although Kylie was doing quite well chasing a career in acting, it was Dannii’s appearance on Young Talent Time in the early 80s that catapulted her to national prominence.

She enjoyed a few years alone in the spotlight, before her older sister was cast in Neighbours in 1986.

From this point onwards, Kylie became an overnight sensation scoring the title of ‘pop princess’ and attracting an international following.

Dannii also released her own albums, but by her second, her popularity was declining.

Kylie’s career in music soon outshone her acting debut, and she reached number one in more than 40 countries.

Danni’s career, however, took her in a different direction, she reached international fame as a TV personality.

Completely different paths and wonderfully successful careers in their own right.

But because they are in the same industry, their every move has been scrutinised, and over the decades they've been regular fodder for the tabloids who loved to assume the pair were jealous of each other's success.

In her autobiography My Story, The News of the World, Dannii talks about how her marriage breakdown left her confidence in tatters.

"I was struggling with the stark realisation that nobody wanted me - not my record company, not my husband and definitely not the public," she wrote.

"I tried not to get too`woe is me' about it, but as the weeks went on the only time I saw my name in print or heard it mentioned on TV or radio was as the less successful Minogue sister.

"Things like Dannii's bitter jealousy over Kylie's continued success, Dannii's fashion faux pas and Kylie's triumphs. Hey, isn't Kylie bloody fabulous, everyone? And isn't Dannii tragic?"

But in her book she also reiterated that despite being hurt by the comparisons, she has never felt jealous of Kylie.

"I can tell you, it's not easy to be publicly pitted against someone you love and admire. It hurts," she wrote.

"The truth of the matter is I never felt like I was competing with my sister.

"The truth is I am and always have been so very proud of Kylie, and she is of me."

Away from the career spotlight, even their personal lives have been compared and dissected.

"The unlucky in love Minogue sisters" was a popular headline every time one or both of them parted ways with a lover.

Dannii has been married once, engaged twice, and she has a son, Ethan, to a different relationship again.

She's currently with Swiss rocker Adrian Newman, and has been for five years.

Kylie's relationship history is even more complicated. She's had a broken engagement and many a broken heart, dating stars including David Tennant, Michael Hutchence and Jason Donovan.

The fact that at 51 she has never been married or had children is also a popular tabloid spiel.

She's currently with Paul Solomons, GQ's creative director.

Through every fire and every media storm, the two sisters have weathered it together.

"We're a tight family unit," Dannii told Anh Do.

 

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Three years ago tonight... Me and @kylieminogue surprising our parents at the @royalalberthall, on stage together performing #100degrees. Few things top that night. #sisters #justaddsequins #Christmas #memories #Minogueversary

A post shared by danniiminogue (@danniiminogue) on Dec 11, 2018 at 12:04am PST

Kylie's diagnosis with breast cancer at age 36, brought that relationship even closer.

"It was shocking, and I was really far away. So I was in London and she was in Australia. And I just wanted to get back not only to see her, but to be there for my parents. Because I was just thinking how does that feel as parents to be told your daughter has this?" Dannii explained.

"We wanted to be there for her and then you throw in the media being interested. Yeah, navigating all of that was particularly hard.

"She was just an absolute star. For the tiniest littlest person, I don't know where she pulls it up from, but she was absolutely incredible with everyone and the situation and being calm about it," Dannii said about her older sister.

Despite the media and the public pitting the Minogue sisters against each other, these two have nothing but love behind closed doors.