Dannii Minogue: ‘I Kissed A Girl is so much more than lesbian porn’

Dannii Minogue is back to play matchmaker with the UK’s first queer dating show for women (Picture: BBC)

Pop icon, TV favourite, and all-round LGBTQ+ ally Dannii Minogue is reprising her role as gay Cupid for the hotly anticipated, I Kissed A Girl.

The BBC Three dating show follows the mega success of 2023’s I Kissed A Boy, in which 10 single guys were matched based on what they were looking for in a partner.

It all started with a kiss before the boys were encouraged to get to know one another and give a relationship a shot – so, now it’s time for the ladies to step up to the plate.

Filmed under the Italian sunshine, I Kissed A Girl is here to demolish stereotypes and spark conversations, all while providing drama and twists galore… but will it end with true love?

Here, Aussie gem Dannii explains why the programme is so much more than lesbian porn, how her own mind was broadened during the process, and why she’s part of something bigger than a TV show…

I Kissed A Girl promises not only a diverse cast but plenty of twists and turns (Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

It’s very exciting to have I Kissed A Girl launching, but did you feel any pressure after the success of I Kissed A Boy?

I think it was just the pressure of the first time showing the girls. It was like what we went through with the boys. That was the first UK gay dating show, we really wanted to set off on the right foot and for the first one to have a great cross-section of the community, not a cookie-cutter casting. It was the same with the girls. We just wanted an incredible selection of girls. They’re from all over the country so when they bring their stories of the towns they’re from and start talking to each other, that’s when interesting conversations come up.

Tell us about the girls. What kind of personalities can we expect and what are you excited for viewers to see?

It was very surprising to me how much they were learning from each other. You’ve got girls at different stages of being in relationships, or levels of confidence, or having been burnt by relationships before, and they’re all incredibly open. They seem to have more self-confidence than the boys. They’re less aware of themselves, and I loved watching them. They’re a lot younger than I am and not only seeing how these beautiful queer women are, but just how young women are in general. They’re growing up in a different landscape and exposed to different stuff, how they talk, the language… it was really eye-opening for me.

There’s so much diversity once again in the cast, why was this important for you to continue after I Kissed A Boy?

It’s the first step forward for a gay dating show with women who love women. We need to see who these women are! People have asked me, “What are they like” and, “What do they look like?” And I said, well, women! That’s the answer! That’s it!

They all have very particular preferences so not only do we want to show a broad spectrum of women, but we want to make sure there are people there who they are looking for. We all know that, in the real world, you can have all the ideas of what you want, but the perfect person might not be that. We tell them to keep an open mind, but we have tried to make sure there are people there that they’re gonna fancy and wanna get to know!

The Aussie TV icon describes the reality show as ‘educational’ and ‘eye-opening’ (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

I Kissed A Boy was a huge success for BBC Three in 2023 – but Dannii assures this is just the beginning (Picture: BBC/Two Four/iStock)

It’s been mentioned that I Kissed A Girl is going to help smash stereotypes, how do you think it does this? I guess one of the biggest ways is by showing that queerness doesn’t have one “look…”

Not only the look but, very interestingly, early on in the show, episode two… if you don’t bawl your eyes out watching this, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. The women speak to each other about how they are either comfortable or extremely uncomfortable with certain words.

One girl might say, “I can’t stand the word lesbian and I don’t want to be labelled as a lesbian,” then another might say, “I love it! I love being a lesbian.” Then another girl says she never wants to be called queer… that one episode alone is such an education on what life experiences they’ve had to bring them to that point.

By meeting each other in such an unusual situation to be with only other queer women, they don’t have to have their guard up or explain who they are. Conversations like that are very raw and real.

One of my concerns has been that some of the kisses might be sexualised by straight viewers, which stems from society’s attitudes towards lesbian relationships and how they are fetishised. What would you say to anyone who has reservations?

The kisses are raunchy and they’re sexy. So many conversations will be sparked by people watching the show. So many lesbians and queer women have said to me that, if they are with their partner in the street kissing, they will often be approached by straight men. It’s very particular, the girls were saying. If you go to a bar or a club for lesbians and queer women, then they said it’s normally underground, not on street level. On one hand, they’re saying, “We’d love to be as visible as the gay guys and just be able to be ourselves” but, on the other hand, it’s quite nice that they’re a bit protected. Once they’re in there, they can be themselves and not feel like they’re being viewed.

I think we need to let women be women and find love as themselves. The only way we can do that is with more visibility, because if the only thing straight men or women have been watching is lesbian porn, then that’s all they’re gonna think it is. But, when you put faces and real people out there and you see there is more to it than that, it’s the most powerful and important thing.

Over time, I think life will become easier for these women. It’s not for them to edit who they are, it’s for society to catch up.

The beloved LGBTQ+ ally is keen to for the dating show scene to progress (Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

You are such a wonderful ally in your career and personal life. How did you create a safe space for these girls on set?

There were many conversations I had with the production company before I signed on because I just wanted to make sure this was a safe space and that the girls and boys would be looked after. We have a great care team headed up by great psychologists and psychiatrists. For the boys, most of the crew were men from the community, which put everyone at ease. Then the same with the girls; most of the crew were female, queer, or lesbian. Everyone was very open to the people on set who were not, like me. There was someone I could always go and speak to if I had a question. It was amazing. We left there on such a high.

I have to tell you, and I hope you don’t find this weird because it’s the highest compliment, you were one of my lesbian awakenings growing up…

I’m so glad it’s you doing this interview! I think that it’s been really incredible that I’ve been able to speak to so many different journalists this time around because of that. For you to share that with me, that’s very special. Thank you so much.

It was crazy that last year we were saying before the launch, there’s never been a gay dating show. How can that be? If we get to come back again with the boys and the girls, it’s gotta be a time capsule of what’s happening and in that way, this show is so different. There are some dating shows where, from season 1 to 20, it’s the same people, it’s the same conversations, it’s rinse and repeat. The landscape is changing globally and we’re a part of that. It affects everything. This particularly will be such a time stamp of what is going on, whether you’re in the community or not.

‘This time next year, I’m excited to see what a different space we’re in’ (Picture: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)

That leads me perfectly to my final question. We do live at a time when LGBTQ+ rights are constantly under attack, especially for the trans community in this country. Does it feel like you’re part of something bigger than a TV show?

Yes. I feel in equal amounts absolutely nervous and excited, as much as I was before I took on the show. The last show I was making was The Masked Singer – gorgeous, fun, family entertainment, a show that I would watch with my son who is 13. But to leave a space I’ve worked in since I was seven years old and come to a show where there’s so much emotion, even between the crew and producers… we could not be more proud of having done something.

When people say, “Why wasn’t this done before?” Well, who put their hand up to do it? Nobody! It’s us and it’s so nerve-wracking because you’re gonna be rated as much from people who are not in the community as you will from people in the community. We hope so much that we’ve done the girls justice.

I want everyone to realise, this is the beginning. Each year it will develop if we’re given a chance to continue to make the show, which will have such a ripple effect. The girls have said in interviews that their lives would be completely different if they saw a show like this growing up. So, for the younger generation, it’s so valuable and important.

We really wanted to make something that had substance. Yes, it’s a dating show, but it means something. In time, sure, if there wants to be a Love Island just for girls and we’re casting that cookie-cutter thing, fine! Why not? There are a lot of girls who wanna do that. But this is the first step forward.

Episodes 1 and 2 of I Kissed A Girl are available to watch on BBC iPlayer on Sunday, May 5. Episodes will air on BBC Three every Sunday and Monday night at 9pm.

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