Mum-to-be Dannii Minogue signs £450,000 special deal to return to X Factor

By Sara Nathan

Back to the X Factor: Dannii Minogue will return to the X Factor after the birth of her baby. Pictured with boyfriend Kris Smith on Chapel St in Melbourne


Dannii Minogue has signed a £450,000 deal to return to The X Factor just eight weeks after giving birth.

The Australian pop star's role as a judge had been in question after she announced that she was expecting her first child during the auditions for this year's show.

However, Miss Minogue, 38, will return to work two months after the arrival of her baby in July with the help of her boyfriend, former rugby league player turned model Kris Smith.

She will appear in the 'judges houses' segment of ITV's X Factor in September, where she will help whittle down the hopefuls, alongside the other judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Louis Walsh - and then return for the live shows, filmed in London.

A source close to Miss Minogue said that she was not taking a pay cut, telling the Mail: 'Dannii's pay is working out as like for like for the amount of episodes she has to film, compared to the last series.'

Former Spice Girl Mel B and at least two other celebrities will take Miss Minogue's place in the auditions round.

This week she has confessed that she is finding it hard to relax, saying: 'I need to take some time off, which I'm not used to doing. I should be having naps, but I think 'That's not me, that's boring'. But I'm having to give in to it.


Back to work: Dannii on the X Factor last year with Louis Walsh, Cheryl Cole, and Simon Cowell


'I used to think being pregnant would be the longest time in the world. But with going back and forth from London, with me working, Kris working, there's so much going on.

'After baby's born, I'll absolutely switch off. You have to. I just want to have the baby, shut the door, and take some time off work. That's it.'

She added that her sister Kylie would be with her after the birth in her home city of Melbourne, saying: 'We don't know when the baby will arrive yet, but she's easy with jumping on a plane at the drop of a hat.'

She said of her relationship with Smith: 'I said to (X Factor), with or without baby, I can't do it again (without Kris). I did it last year for two months.

'I'll never do it again.'



source: dailymail