"Especially for You" received many positive reviews from older and contemporary critics, who deemed it one of the strongest of each singer's album, but also dubbed the song a classic.

The song had commercial success, reaching number one in the UK, Ireland, Greece, and Belgium and peaking inside the top five in several other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, France, Finland, and Switzerland.

Minogue and Donovan had both appeared on the hit Australian TV series Neighbours, building a considerable following as an onscreen couple in both Australia and the UK.

They were also the subject of much media and public speculation about their off-screen romance, which at the time of this release they were still denying, in an effort to protect their privacy.

Both singers were produced by Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, fuelling speculation in the British press that they were planning to release a duet.

[1] SAW and the two singers all denied any plan to do so, with the producers fearing the project would be too "crass" and "commercial", and Minogue expressing concerns a duet would again stir up unwelcome interest in her romance with Donovan.

[1] An order of 250,000 copies by British retailer Woolworths finally forced the producers to make the record, with the team feeling they could not shun that scale of demand from the market.

[2] The song was used again in July 2022 for the series' then-finale episode, which Donovan and Minogue reprised their respective roles as Scott and Charlene.