Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has issued an apology for making “inappropriate” comments about Kylie Minogue in a recent podcast appearance.
The comments about the pop star were made when the PM made an appearance on the Bush Deep podcast, hosted by comedian Nikki Osborne. The host is best recognised for her crude comedy skits on YouTube, and launched the podcast earlier this year, describing herself as a “wildly inappropriate journalist” who is willing to ask guests “questions no one else would dare”.
During the 20-minute interview, Osbourne asked Albanese who he would “shag, marry or date” out of Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman or Rhonda Burchmore.
Initially, he tried to avoid answering the question by clarifying that he had “just got married” to his partner Jodie Haydon in November and was “only six months in” to the marriage.
After being pushed to answer by the host, he eventually responded: “Oh, Kylie, clearly”. When asked by Osbourne if that meant he’d “marry Kylie, and shag her, and date her”, he replied: “All of the above. She’s terrific”.
🚨🇦🇺 NEW: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has apologised “unequivocally” for playing a “shag, marry, date” game on a comedy podcast
He nominated singer Kylie Minogue for all three categories during an interview with comedian Nikki Osborne
[@GuardianAus] pic.twitter.com/klgvb2kmau
— Politics Global (@PolitlcsGlobal) July 6, 2026
Since the interview was published, the PM has received a wave of criticism for the comments, and faced accusations of being “inappropriate” and sexist.
Shadow Communications Minister Sarah Henderson wrote on X that his comments were “disrespectful to women, embarrassing to Australians and demean the office of Prime Minister.”
Community Strong MP Zali Steggall shared a similar stance, saying that the comments were “entirely inappropriate” and that Albanese “needs to learn to push back, lead by example and call it out as sexist”.
Following the backlash, the PM shared a statement today (Monday July 6), simply saying that he wants to “apologise unequivocally for the comments”.
Anthony Albanese’s whisky-fuelled comments on the ‘Deep Bush’ podcast are disrespectful to women, embarrassing to Australians and demean the office of Prime Minister.
Comedian Nikki Osborne is very good at her craft and cleverly skewered the Prime Minister throughout her… pic.twitter.com/VfrBMPMDNV
— Senator Sarah Henderson (@SenSHenderson) July 5, 2026
A one line apology from the Prime Minister is wholly inadequate. pic.twitter.com/XizEAwqqm1
— Senator Sarah Henderson (@SenSHenderson) July 6, 2026
Richard Marles is acting prime minister while Albanese is on a visit to the Pacific, and spoke to ABC News about the interview comments, insisting that the government are “utterly committed” to defending and elevating women.
“From time to time, we obviously do different interviews to the one we are doing now, but I think the other point to make here is that the government that the PM leads is the first in history that has had equality in terms of the number of men and women in cabinet,” Marles said.
Minogue has yet to comment publicly about the comments made by the Australian PM.
The singer recently joined forces with Snow Patrol for the dizzying single ‘These Alarms’, and also joined them as a special guest at their huge gig at Crystal Palace Park this past weekend.
The pop star is also set to star alongside Quentin Tarantino in a new film, and recently revealed that she was diagnosed with cancer for a second time in 2021, following an initial diagnosis in 2005.
