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Iggy Azalea replacing Dannii Minogue as The X Factor Australia judge

Written by . Published: June 13 2016

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."

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