One of the most prolific Hollywood actors is mourning the passing of his beloved wife,
Kelly Preston. This comes over a decade after a tragedy in which he lost his teenage son
Jett.
Not many know, but even before these two horrifying events, the aspiring young actor had had to
say goodbye to his first true love. Hardly could Travolta imagine the story of his first
loss would so painfully repeat itself with Preston, more than 40 years later.
Travolta met the award-winning actress Diana Hyland in his early twenties, when she played
his mother in the television movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. Hyland was 18 years
older than Travolta, but that wasn't a hindrance for either of the stars. Who cares about the
age gap if you are madly in love? John disclosed how his meeting with Diana changed his life:
"I have never been more in love with anyone in my life. I thought I was in love before,
but I wasn't. From the moment I met her, I was attracted. We were like two maniacs talking
all the time on the set of Bubble. After a month it became romantic."
According to Travolta, they already picked a house and were planning to move in. Their
future seemed so bright, but their happiness wasn't meant to last long. In 1977, a year
after they started dating, Hyland was diagnosed with breast cancer and her health quickly
deteriorated.
The actress died at the age of 41, in John's arms. The 23-year-old travelled back from
the filming of his sensational Saturday Night Fever to be there for Diana during her last
moments.
Travolta tried to stay strong, but he was so devastated and consumed by grief, that
he would often struggle with his lines while filming Grease already after Hyland's passing,
Even though Travolta began dating again three years later, it took him a decade to get love-struck
again. It happened at a screen test for The Experts where he saw actress Kelly Preston
for the first time. She entered the room - and that was it! However, Preston was in a rocky
marriage to fellow actor Kevin Gage at that time.
"Well I was not that happily married, let's put it that way," Preston explained in her
2018 interview with Andy Cohen "I was really with the wrong person."
After Kelly's divorce, her closeness with John turned into a romantic relationship.
In 1991, Travolta proposed to Preston in Switzerland on New Year's eve. She literally screamed
when he popped the question. Both knew it would be a bond for life, come rain or come
shine. And let us be fair: there had been heavy rainfall on numerous occasions that
could break their marriage. But instead, all those challenges they went through together
made their family even stronger.
In 2009, Travolta and Preston lost their firstborn son Jett Travolta. The 16-year-old who was
at an early age diagnosed with a poorly understood syndrome, had a seizure and hit his head on
the bath. All the attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.
Even though we can only imagine what a nightmarish period it was in their lives, the two found
strength in Scientology and in each other.
Preston later said in one of her interviews: “Nobody should have to lose a child. It’s
unfathomable. But I’m here to say that you can get through it. You can live again. You
can want to live again.”
John revealed that he was struggling really hard while dealing with the family loss:
“The truth is, I didn’t know if I was going to make it. Life was no longer interesting
to me, so it took a lot to get me better.”
The couple's agony did not end there, because Jett's death led to a lengthy court case after
an ambulance driver and his attorney were accused of trying to extort $25million from
the couple by threatening to release sensitive details about the death.
The hurch of Scientology has always been another point of controversy surrounding Travolta
and Preston. The actor has been an active member and avid supporter of the religious
organization since he joined it in 1975.
Travolta defended Scientology saying how the church helped them deal with the grief after
the death of their son.
Kelly and John were in this together. Some say that Preston was even more hard-core in
her dedication to Scientology than her spouse, which helped to anchor Travolta.
Despite numerous allegations and increasing attention to their family in connection with
their religious choice, both spouses stood by their beliefs and remained loyal to the
church of Scientology.
Another rumour that has surrounded Travolta for years and drove even more public attention
to his family life is connected with his sexual orientation and harassment allegations.
First, he was reported to have had a man lover in the 1980s for 6 years. Then there came
two lawsuits from masseurs who claimed Travolta behaved aggressively and made sexual advances
towards them during massages. Both lawsuits were subsequently dropped by the complainants
and dismissed without prejudice.
However, all these things put additional pressure on Travolta and his family. Any need to mention
Kelly was there for him all the time?
Until… she wasn't...The Jerry Maguire actress, the loving wife and the caring mother of 2
passed away in July following her 2-year battle with breast cancer. Thus, it has become the
second time Travolta has lost his significant other to breast cancer.
Before her passing, Kelly had chosen to keep her battle private. But now, as the tragedy
hit the family, Travolta took to his Instagram to pay tribute to the love of his life. The
Grease star thanked her doctors and everyone who was there for her during that exhausting
fight. In the end of his post, Travolta apologized to his fans saying:
"I will be taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so
forgive me in advance if you don’t hear from us for a while. But please know that
I will feel your outpouring of love in the weeks and months ahead as we heal."
The couple's 20-year-old daughter Ella paid tribute to her mother writing:
"I have never met anyone as courageous, strong, beautiful and loving as you... You have made
life so beautiful and I know you will continue to do so always. I love you so much mama."
Sadly, there is another woman in Travolta's circle who has been affected by breast cancer,
like his first love and his spouse: it is his Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John. Olivia,
primarily a singer, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in the 90s. Because of this
she had to cancel all publicity for the album, including the tour. What is more, she lost
her father the same weekend she learned about her cancer diagnosis. This strong woman managed
to recover and has since become an advocate for breast cancer research.
However, as if it has not been enough for one person… cancer returned, TWICE!
Вставка со звуком https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTV41nmo994&t=23s
2.0.-2.05 CBS Sunday Morning
The 71-year-old is not giving up, however. She said in her recent interview:
"I believe your belief system is part of the healing... at my last MRI, which is an exam
where they look inside, things are shrinking, going away, staying the same and I'm living
well with it and I'm feeling great."
Reacting to the news about Kelly Preston, Olivia called Kelly quote "a radiant, warm
and gentle spirit".
Numerous celebrities also took to social media to remember Kelly. Breast cancer survivor,
actress Rita Wilson tweeted a photo of her and Preston together. Barbara Streisand also
shared one sweet snap from the past. Arnold Schwarzenegger called Preston an extraordinary
person with a big heart.
Even though Preston is gone, the world is yet to see her last film Off The Rails which
is currently in post-production. Not only was Preston secretly battling cancer in the
past two years, but she was also making movies. The actress managed to finish the comedy starring
alongside screen icon Judi Dench.
John and Kelly have made 5 movies together demonstrating both incredible chemistry and
professionalism no matter the plot. For example, in the 2009 comedy Old Dogs they played a
FORMER couple. And in 2018 the off-screen spouses played REAL LIFE husband and wife
in the biopic Gotti. Even though the movie was a flop and literally received a zero rating
on Rotten Tomatoes, it will definitely remain with Travolta as a touching and memorable
experience of his last time working together with Preston.
Our hearts go out to John Travolta, Ella
and Benjamin.