Watch Kylie on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Pop singer Kylie Minogue has revealed that she was originally misdiagnosed while suffering from breast cancer.

Appearing on American comedian Ellen DeGeneres’s chat show, the Australian chart-topper told how she had been assured nothing was wrong with her so went on tour with her Showgirl concerts. She was later forced to abandon the tour to undergo surgery and a course of chemotherapy.

“This is an opportunity for me to say something that I have not said before,” she told DeGeneres. “I was misdiagnosed initially, so my message to all of you and everyone at home, [is that just] because someone’s in a white coat and using big medical instruments does not necessarily mean that they’re right.”

With her voice close to breaking, Minogue, 39, who was told she had cancer in May 2005, encouraged women to seek a second opinion if they had suspicions that they had been incorrectly diagnosed.

“The number of times I’ve heard of women going for diagnosis and being told, ‘don’t worry about a thing, it’s fine,'’’ she said.

“I did my Showgirls tour having gone for a check and being told everything was fine.”

Minogue’s unplanned announcement was sparked by the earlier appearance on the show of Senator Hilary Clinton. On the publicity tour during her race for the Democrat presidential nomination, she spoke of the need for universal healthcare and early treatement of breast cacner. She also talked about her mother-in-law’s and DeGeneres’s mother’s battles with cancer.

Minogue then appeared and, having performed a song from her new album X, shakily told DeGeneres that listening to the discussion had inspired her to share her story.

“I had no intention of saying that today, but what you were talking about before and [also] I didn’t realise it was a subject so close to your heart.”

DeGeneres revealed she had been through a similar experience.

“I felt a lump, and the same situation - I didn’t plan on talking about this either - but I had just had a mammogram and they didn’t find anything and a couple of weeks later I found a lump.”

Minogue is currently promoting her new album X - her first since she was diagnosed with cancer.

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