Kylie Minogue reveals her struggle of comeback tour

Kylie Minogue has revealed the physical and mental price she paid by going back to work so soon after her cancer battle.

The singer admitted she and her family had doubts about her decision to go on the road so quickly after fighting breast cancer.

And the Showgirl tour took its toll on her health after she fell apart and had to be carried away at one of the concerts.

But Kylie insisted she had to finish the tour she started before she was diagnosed to draw a line under the whole experience.

She said: "I probably could have waited longer but I thought if I have to wait until the next year this Showgirl thing is just going to go on forever and I really just wanted it done, to be able to move on.

"I've always thought about it. Even in really dark moments I thought 'I just want to aim for that'. I didn't actually know if I could do it. "At the end of the day it comes down to me and if I lose it the whole thing will completely fall apart."

The first show takes its toll on Kylie as she comes off exhausted. Afterwards she admits: "I wouldn't say it was an anticlimax but I was just totally spent afterwards and I couldn't even decide what I thought of it.

"I lay down on the floor and literally felt my whole body sinking down. I couldn't even make conversation with anyone. I was just gone."

She manages to battle through but towards the end of the tour she felt so ill she couldn't go on. She came off stage in floods of tears and couldn't breathe, so staff had to cut her out of her corset.

She said: "I felt really weak, dizzy, couldn't sing, I could hardly talk and I was hyperventilating and panicking and in tears.

"At the end of the medley I went through the back doors and at the top of the stairs I just sat there and I burst into tears with my head in my hands."

"I just felt ridiculous and incapable. It has to be said that it reminded me somewhere deep in my subconscious that the last time I was really ill on stage was before I was diagnosed.

"I felt really pummeled, quite tormented in fact."

Kylie was diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection and had to cancel the next two concerts. A week later she was back for the last show of the tour.

She said: "Yes you could look at it that it's just a show but it's not just a show to me, that's my work, it's my passion and it gives so much to so many people, myself included.

"I thought there's something that connects with people and I certainly wasn't ready to give that up after that experience because actually it means more to me."

Kylie's struggle was revealed in a moving Channel 4 film White Diamond: A Personal Portrait of Kylie Minogue, which documents her journey back to health and the homecoming of the Showgirl tour.

On the show she admitted she had canned the film about five times because she was worried about people looking beyond the surface at who she really was.

But she spoke frankly about her decision to go back on tour. Before one show she said: "I've had blowouts all day. Just physical and mental exhaustion."

Later she said: "At that point I felt so drained that it was such an effort to get up to show speed again. I felt like my body was a battleground."

Kylie also spoke about her relationship with Olivier Martinez, who she has since broken up with.

He made a brief appearance on the show, hugging her and picking her up backstage. She said: "He's been very much behind the scenes but for him to come into this world which is not a world he even knew before is amazing.

"When he's not here there's an Ollie shape missing. Ollie was amazing I have to say. He was really supportive throughout Showgirl one and was with me when I was diagnosed.

"I have learned that when the going gets tough or there's a crisis you learn a lot about people and I can't tell people enough how amazing he was.

"He was so supportive and really instrumental in helping me get through that period and getting back on stage. He never had a doubt and when I had doubts that really helped me."

Kylie's sister Dannii also appears in the film.

The X-Factor judge said: "It's important to have close family and for Olivier to be supportive. We've been there but we can only do so much and the other part that she needs to fulfill is the work part.

"We were worried it would be too soon for her to go back to work but only she can know within herself what's the right time."