A secret hospitalization.
A daughter struggling with anorexia and addiction.
And final years marred by intense pain.
Olivia Newton-John brought joy to millions with her film roles and her singing.
But her personal life had its fair share of tragedy.
Unlike her famous on-screen counterpart, Olivia Newton-John had a hard time finding that special
someone to be as "Hopelessly Devoted" as her fictional Danny Zuko.
She and her husband of 10 years, actor Matt Lattanzi, divorced in 1995 amid rumors he
was unfaithful.
Her subsequent long-term boyfriend, Patrick McDermott, literally ghosted her.
McDermott and Newton-John dated for nine years before he vanished in 2005 after embarking
on a fishing trip in San Pedro, California.
McDermott was reported missing roughly a week later when he failed to show up to a family
event.
He was never seen nor heard from again until several years later when he was rumored to
have been spotted in Mexico.
It was alleged that McDermott secretly fled to the country to escape a large amount of
debt.
The U.S. Coast Guard's official determination was that McDermott was lost at sea during
that fateful voyage, but suspicions that he faked his death persist.
It's all speculation, of course, but for Newton-John, the inexplicable heartache still looms large.
The Grease actress told Australian Women's Weekly:
"I don't think I will ever really be at peace with it."
What started out as a dream home became a house of horrors for Olivia Newton-John and
her second husband, natural health businessman John Easterling.
The couple purchased the luxurious waterside mansion in Florida's Jupiter Inlet County
in 2009, and after owning the home for four years, they decided to put it on the market.
They reportedly hired a contractor to oversee extensive renovations that would increase
the value of the sale.
The man they hired for the work, 41-year-old Christopher Pariseleti, reportedly died by
suicide in one of the property's bedrooms while Newton-John and Easterling were away.
The shocking incident caused prospective buyer Rosie O'Donnell to pull out of the sale.
Newton-John and Easterling had so much trouble selling the home that they even brought in
an exorcist to cleanse it of any lingering spirits.
In 2015, the $5.5 million listing was taken off the market.
In January 2016, the Miami Herald reported it was finally sold to a Swedish advertising
executive for $5 million cash.
Olivia Newton-John's daughter, Chloe Rose Lattanzi, suffered from an eating disorder
as a teenager.
In a 2013 interview with Entertainment Tonight, the then 27-year-old Lattanzi said she was
embarrassed by her past:
"It's just really sad because I was just a little girl, and now I look at it and I look
like a walking skeleton."
At one point, Lattanzi admitted to weighing only 90 pounds at 5 feet 6 inches tall.
Lattanzi said the anxiety of being a celebrity's child fueled her anorexia and substance abuse.
She told the Daily Mail in 2013:
"Fame totally messes you up.
I don't blame my mother for my problems, but I would never want to be famous or raise a
child of my own around the cult of celebrity.
It ruins lives."
Interestingly, Lattanzi has followed in her mother's performance footsteps and appeared
alongside Newton-John on Dave Audé's 2015 single "You Have to Believe," a remix of her
"Magic" single from the Xanadu motion picture soundtrack.
In October 2015, Lattanzi credited her fiancé, martial artist James Driskill, for helping
her make a full recovery.
Olivia Newton-John had it particularly tough in 1992.
Her 5-year-old goddaughter died from cancer, followed by her father.
Then, just two weeks after losing her dad, Newton-John was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The actress told People:
"It was all at once.
Everything just came at me.
You can't help but feel despair at some point.
It's overwhelming."
The music star underwent a partial mastectomy, breast reconstruction, and chemotherapy, and
became cancer-free for more than 20 years.
She founded the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Center in Australia.
"To end cancer, win over cancer, is my dream."
However, cancer dealt another blow to Newton-John's family in 2013.
Her older sister, Rona Newton-John, died from brain cancer in May 2013.
"I'll always miss her but she'll be, she'll be with me here."
Reflecting on her life's challenges, Newton-John said on Today,
"I'm a much stronger person than I realized.
Sometimes you need to be confronted with things before you really know your potential."
Newton-John later revealed that her breast cancer returned in 2013.
In May 2017, she revealed that she was diagnosed with metastasized breast cancer at the age
of 68, which caused her to postpone her U.S. and Canadian tour schedule so that she could
seek treatment.
According to a statement from her inner circle to People, Newton-John felt positive that
she would be back to her long-lived business of entertaining the masses by August of the
same year.
Her daughter, Chloe, echoed the same optimism in a statement to People, saying,
"My mom and best friend is going to be fine!
[...] Cancer is the disease of our generation and it is part of my and my mother's quest
to beat this insidious monster."
Lattanzi added that as part of Newton-John's treatment regimen, she would be using cannabis
oil, along with a mix of alternative remedies and modern medicine.
No doubt, Newton-John's decades of experience living with this disease on behalf of herself
and others gave her a solid foundation from which to inform her treatment decisions going
forward.
In August 2019, Olivia Newton-John revealed that she was secretly admitted to her own
cancer center the year before, when her stage IV breast cancer metastasized to her sacrum.
She was hospitalized for three weeks, sneaking around wearing a beanie and a face mask, and
called it her most frightening experience with the disease because it affected her bones.
Newton-John told Entertainment Tonight,
"It was a challenging year because I broke my sacrum and I had to learn to walk again
and everything.
But I am strong and I am back and I'm feeling good."
While speaking with 60 Minutes Australia around that time, the singer-actress said,
"We know we're gonna die at some point ... we don't know when it is.
When you're given a cancer diagnosis or a scary honest diagnosis, you're suddenly given
a possibility of a time limit ... So every day is a gift, particularly now."
Olivia Newton-John and Jane Seymour had one of the most endearing celebrity friendships
that went back decades to when Seymour was roommates with Newton-John's late sister,
Rona.
Seymour even gushed to Access in 2019,
"We're very, we are close."
"I would never be without her; I am hopelessly devoted to her."
With that said, it makes sense that Seymour would remain by Newton-John's side to the
very end.
The former Bond girl went on Good Morning Britain to share their final moments together.
Seymour recalled,
"She just kept saying, '[Look] at this hummingbird, look at the sky, look at nature' ... She just
grabbed every single moment."
While Newton-John managed to keep her positive outlook even in her final days, Seymour knew
she had been suffering for a long time.
The actress told Good Morning Britain:
"About two, three years ago, I remember being with her and I just thought this was the last
time I was going to see her.
She was skeletal and frail."
Yet, Seymour added that Newton-John held on as long as she could for those she loved.
It appears that Olivia Newton-John always had a strong connection to her daughter, Chloe.
After giving birth to Chloe in 1986, the Grease star had even reportedly stepped away from
her Hollywood career for a bit to focus on being her mother.
You could say that Newton-John was extra grateful for her only child, revealing on "A Life of
Greatness" podcast,
"I remember when I was pregnant with Chloe, and I was close to losing her."
Newton-John recalled then turning to God and making a pact for her life:
"I went to bed and asked God to save her and if he did, I would say the Lord's Prayer every
night for the rest of my life and so I have."
Chloe seemingly returned the favor years later, by asking fans for prayers when her mother
was suffering back issues in 2017, which turned out to be cancer.
She took to her Instagram to write,
"I love [you] mama ... Will all of [you] send healing prayers for my mamas back please.
I believe in the power of positive thinking and energy."
It's clear Lattanzi had felt that special bond with her mother, and following Newton-John's
death in August 2022, she paid tribute to her by sharing photos of them together throughout
the years.
Just days before, Chloe had also gushed about her mother in another Instagram post, writing,
"I worship this woman.
My mother.
My best friend."
While many fans were shocked by Olivia Newton-John's passing, it seems that death was something
the Australian superstar had been thinking about ever since she was diagnosed with cancer.
Yet she somehow managed to keep it positive, telling the "A Life of Greatness" podcast
in 2021,
"I've had experiences with spirits and spirit life.
I believe there is something that happens.
[...] I think all the love will be there.
I'm sort of looking forward to that."
It's evident that Newton-John had a beautiful spirit of her own, even using her last request
to help others.
In a statement posted on Instagram, her family wrote,
"In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made in her memory to the
[Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund.]"
It appears Newton-John wanted to continue to make a difference long after her death
through her nonprofit organization, which supports research into plant medicine and
cancer.
In Newton-John's last Instagram post, she shared a touching photo of her and her husband,
John Easterling, who then sadly had to announce her death just days later.
Yet, perhaps he can be comforted with the fact that Newton-John had been a true inspiration
to countless fans who watched her overcome so many tragedies.
A year before her death, Newton-John told Australian Women's Weekly,
"I want to pass on something good and something valuable that's going to help people."
Mission accomplished.