Kylie superfan Scott Mills on singer’s ‘amazing’ LGBTQ+ allyship: ‘Embraced us from the start’

Radio 2 DJ Scott Mills has shared just how much Kylie’s LGBTQ+ allyship has meant to him over the past few decades, ahead of a new podcast about her incredible career. 

Kylie has dominated the summer with her pop anthem ‘Padam Padam’, and has now released a banger of a follow-up single in the form of ‘Tension’. 

Later this month, she’ll be headlining a show in the UK for the first time since 2019 – Radio 2 in the Park in Leicester. She’ll feature alongside names such as Jessie Ware and Bananarama. 

But before that, fans can hear all about the pop princess’ amazing career on new podcast Eras: Kylie Minogue, presented by Scott Mills. 

“Never problematic. Just an amazing pop icon” – Scott Mills

Chatting to Attitude ahead of its release, the DJ, who is gay, shared why he thinks the singer is so celebrated by the LGBTQ+ community. 

He told us: “Kylie is loved by the LGBTQ plus community, for loads of reasons. She embraced us right from the start. She’s always been there, from my childhood to now. She’s always been in my life. We’ve embraced her and she also has done the same, she’s just got a really special thing about her. 

“Never problematic. Just an amazing pop icon. So when I got asked to do the series, imagine how quickly I said yes?”

Mills went on to say he’s felt Kylie has “always been an ally” which helped him accept his sexuality as a teenager: “I was growing up in quite a small kind of town in Hampshire, and getting the feelings that I was getting. I always remember from really quite early on, that she was a supporter of gay people. 

“At that time, I was thinking to myself, ‘well, that’s where I’m at with that’. You have a situation where you go, ‘okay, I’m from a small town, mid to late 80s. Is everyone gonna be okay with it? No? Are my friends gonna be okay, what are my parents gonna think?”

“She’s always been there, from my childhood to now”

However, he recalls reading magazines such as Smash Hits and Top Of The Pops where Kylie made her love for her gay fans very clear. 

“This is a long time ago,” he continued. “It made me as a small boy reading a magazine wanting to be on the radio in Hampshire go, ‘oh, okay, a pop star that I love, she thinks that’s okay’. This is a long time ago, but that’s how I felt.”

The podcast reflects on 35 years at the top of the charts, Kylie’s uncanny ability for re-invention, and after her success in 2023, what her fans can look forward to from the next Kylie era.

The DJ also gave his thoughts on just why ‘Padam Padam’ created so much buzz throughout the summer. 

He said: “The gay community had a lot to do with it, and the internet had loads to do with it. 

“We’re talking about an artist who when she first started out, the internet wasn’t even a thing. Imagine being Kylie and having lived and worked at such a rate so successfully, when there’s been such a change in the world of music, and actually, generally how the world works. 

“If I was her, I think it would be blowing my mind!”