Iggy Azalea replacing Dannii Minogue as The X Factor Australia judge
Rapper Iggy Azalea is heading back to her native Australia to take on a new role as a judge on The X Factor.
The Fancy star was recently rumored to be in talks to join the judging panel on the hit reality show, following singer/TV personality Dannii Minogue's departure, and on Sunday (12Jun16), Iggy's new gig was confirmed by network bosses at Channel Seven, reports DailyMail.co.uk.
The 26-year-old, who hails from Sydney, has now admitted she was
initially hesitant about taking the job, but the added benefit of
being able to spend more time with her family while she works
helped to sway her decision.
"I really didn't picture myself being a judge on any kind of
television show but I think that actually this could be a good fit
for me, so I said yes," she told Sydney Confidential, revealing she
is keen to help others from similar backgrounds break into the
industry.
She added, "I understand what it's like to have giant dreams and
intend to help other young Australian's achieve theirs by sharing
my knowledge and developing their talent in collaboration with The
X Factor."
Dannii, sister of pop superstar Kylie Minogue, originally joined
The X Factor Australia in 2013 and last year (15) shared judging
duties with British singer/songwriter James Blunt, Guy Sebastian,
and Chris Isaak for the show's seventh season.
It is not yet known if Blunt, Sebastian and Isaak will return to
sit alongside Iggy on the show's eighth run, which is due to begin
filming later this year (16).
Previous The X Factor Australia judges have included Ronan Keating,
Natalie Imbruglia, Melanie Brown, and LMFAO's Redfoo.
Iggy has been focusing on getting her career back on track in
recent months after canceling plans to tour last year (15) as she
was exhausted following the success of her 2014 debut The New
Classic.
She is now expected to hit the road later this year (16) following
the release of her sophomore album, and in the meantime, she has
been keeping busy with a series of summer shows.
The rapper hit the stage in New York City's Central Park on Friday
(10Jun16) as part of breakfast show Good Morning America's Summer
Concert Series, during which she performed her latest single Team,
Fancy and Black Widow live.
However, Iggy was a little annoyed that TV bosses had decided to
censor chunks of her set, even though she claims she wasn't
swearing.
"I never cussed on GMA but unfortunately there are like 38483838182
words you can't say like 'trigger' 'gun' etc like SO many taboo
words," she wrote on Twitter.com early on Sunday. "So I guess
that's why they felt they needed to mute like half my songs on
TV... Which is fine, it's their show."