Dannii Minogue's weight loss explained

Dannii Minogue is receiving treatment for an under-active thyroid, which caused her to shed weight after giving birth.

The singer-turned-reality TV show judge had her first child, son Ethan, last year, but shortly after leaving hospital she fell ill and suffered a bout of appendicitis.

I'm a new mum, I know I'm tired but surely it can't be this hard?

She spent months believing her subsequent tiredness and rundown state was a consequence of her new role as a mum, but she was eventually diagnosed with a thyroid condition.

And she's confessed her health issues even took their toll on her relationship with former British rugby league star Kris Smith.

"Yes, that was a hard time for me," Minogue tells British magazine Stella.

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"I was physically unwell and that takes its toll on everything. My thyroid stopped working and I had appendicitis. Leading up to that I was getting thinner and thinner, and stressing because I didn't know what it was.

"Normally you put on weight if you have an under-active thyroid. But there is a percentage of people that have it reversed. It was very hard to concentrate, you can't sleep, and I got very weak. They explain it to you as running a car without petrol.

"I was finding it hard to pick up Ethan and I was thinking, 'I'm a new mum, I know I'm tired but surely it can't be this hard?'. When you've just had a baby you think it must be normal tiredness," Minogue said.

"But it got to the point where I thought, 'This cannot be normal'. Poor Kris. He was thinking after getting through the pregnancy and the baby that everything would be just fine and he couldn't work out why I wasn't well. It was bloody difficult."

Asked if the couple is planning to extend its brood, Minogue replies, "Yes, but honestly until I get my health back on track it's not a possibility."