Kylie Minogue has been named as the headline act for this year’s AFL grand final.

The Melbourne-born singer said she was excited to return home for the pre-game show at the MCG on September 26.

Rumours had swirled that Minogue would perform at a twilight grand final, but on Sunday the AFL confirmed the traditional 2.30pm timeslot will stay for the coming years.

“As a Melburnian, I’m so excited to be coming home for the biggest day in the Aussie sporting calendar,” Minogue said on Monday, when her performance was finally confirmed.

“I’ll not only be performing, but I’ll be one of 100,000 fans at the ‘G, watching the wonder that is footy.”

The league has long pursued the pop princess to headline its pre-game entertainment, after previously securing international acts, such as Robbie Williams, Kiss, Katy Perry and, most recently, Snoop Dogg.

Not all acts have received positive reviews. The infamous 2011 appearance by Meat Loaf was widely panned as one of the worst grand final performances.

Meanwhile, the choice of American rapper Snoop Dogg for last year’s pre-game entertainment drew criticism due to his misogynistic and homophobic lyrics.

It sparked calls from the entertainment industry, along with former Richmond player Matthew Richardson, to back the Save Our Arts campaign, which pushed for Australian acts to headline Grand Final shows.

“Kylie is one of the most successful Australian artists of all time,” Matt Gudinski, chief executive of Mushroom Group, which represents Minogue, said.

“She’s not just a global superstar, she’s an icon and an obvious choice to headline the 2026 Telstra Pre-game entertainment.”

Minogue, who began her music career in the late 1980s, has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, had nine Australian No.1 albums, and has won 18 ARIA awards and two Grammys.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said there was no better artist to headline the show ahead of the league’s biggest game of the season.

“Kylie has been on our wish list for a long time, and there is no better artist for headline the performance prior to our biggest game of the season,” he said.

“Our AFL team recently joined Kylie at the MCG for the grand final content shoot, and you could already feel the excitement for September building.”

-AAP