He was one of the biggest heartthrobs of his time, starred in iconic films, and performed
dance scenes that will forever be in the hearts of his fans. But his love life has been… let’s say,
complicated. Although John Travolta has known grief and loss throughout his life,
he is also a perfect example of how much a person can love during a single lifetime.
Before he became a big star, John started making a name for himself on Broadway.
In fact, he was still a teen when he joined the Broadway musical Grease,
which would later turn into one of his most famous films.
During Travolta’s start, he met Broadway actress Anita Gillete. The two briefly dated, although
his first known long-term relationship came later. He was working on the 1976 film, The Boy
in The Plastic Bubble. In the movie, actress Diana Hyland played the role of his mother,
but that was no obstacle to their love! Off screen, the two actors fell for each other,
even if she was 41 and he was only 23.
Sadly, Hyland tragically passed away in 1977 due to cancer.
At this time, John was filming Saturday Night Fever. When he realized her health was quickly
worsening, he left everything, flew back to LA and took care of his love during her final days. John
has since revealed that Hyland didn’t know she was going to die until two weeks before it happened.
John was understandably devastated after Diana’s death. In a 1977 interview with People Magazine,
he confessed that he would have probably married the actress if she hadn’t passed away.
"I gave her great joy the last months of her life," he said. "I always feel she is with
me — I mean, her intentions are. Diana always wanted the world for me in every possible way."
After his relationship with Hyland, Travolta became a superstar thanks to his work in films
such as Grease and Saturday Night Fever. In 1978, he began dating actress Marilu
Henner , whom he had met 4 years prior, when they both worked in the same musical. However,
there were rumors that Travolta dated other women during his relationship with Henner, like French
actress Catherine Deneuve. Unfortunately, we might never know the truth about this.
Other rumors link John with men, and they have been confirmed by some of the people that worked
for him. Joan Edwards, Travolta’s former assistant, claimed that the actor had a love
affair with a man in the 80s during an interview with National Enquirer. This lover was pilot Doug
Gotterba. "Of course I knew he was gay,” Edwards said during the interview. “It never bothered me."
Gotterba reportedly began to work for the actor in 1981.
Edwards added: "We both worked for John at the same time. Doug is a wonderful guy and
we are still good friends. He told me that John was gay and they had a sexual relationship."
Gotterba had other boyfriends after his alleged affair with John.
One of them, Robert Britz, also talked to the Enquirer,
saying Doug had told him he had a relationship with Travolta in the 1980s. He had also
confessed that he put up with the actor’s sexual advances because working for him was “lucrative”.
Travolta has never confirmed these rumors himself. He continued dating Marilu Henner until 1989.
In that same year, the actor starred in the movie Look Who’s Talking with Kristie Alley.
They had a lot in common, starting with their belief in the Church of Scientology,
which the Grease star joined in 1975. Alley joined the religion four years after the actor,
and even said it helped her through difficulties, like overcoming her cocaine addiction.
Kristie liked John, and her feelings only got deeper over time. Although he felt the same way,
they decided not to act on it, since she was married to Parker Stevenson. In a radio interview
with Howard Stevenson the actress said “It took me years to not look at John as a romantic interest.”
She also confessed that she had to fight the urge to “run off and marry” John.
It sure seems like, even if they never dated, what they had was intense.
During her appearance on podcast The Dan Wotton Interview, Kristie also stated
"John would agree it was mutual that we sort of fell in love with each other."
However, John married another woman, actress Kelly Preston. Alley confessed she sometimes
flirted with Travolta until his wife caught up on it. “Kelly came up to me and she said, 'Erm,
why are you flirting with my husband?'" the actress recalled. "And that was sort
of when I had to make a decision and that was pretty much the end of that."
The two actors met on the set of the movie The Experts.
Kelly was married to actor Kevin Gage at the time. However, she fell hard for Travolta.
Preston talked about her intense experience on Watch What Happens Live!.
When the host asked her if it was love at first sight, the actress said, “Kinda. Well,
I was not that happily married, let's put it that way. I was really with the wrong person."
After the actress separated from Gage, she briefly moved on, first with George Clooney
and then with Charlie Sheen. Finally, John and Kelly got together and in 1990, he proposed.
The couple was spending New Year’s at the Palace Hotel restaurant in Gstaad , Switzerland;
where he popped the question. Aww, so romantic!
They married in 1991 by a Scientology minister. The Wedding was held at the
Hotel de Crillon in Paris, one of the most luxurious and beautiful hotels in the world!
A few months later, they had a second wedding in Daytona Beach, Florida.
In 1992, the couple welcomed Jett, their first child. Eight years later,
they had their daughter Ella. It seemed like the actors were living a true fairytale.
The family lived happily until disaster struck in 2009, when Jett tragically died at the age of 16.
He had a seizure during a family vacation in the Bahamas.
Some time after, Travolta and Preston confirmed he was autistic and had a history with seizures.
Two years after her son’s death, Preston described just how awful she felt after the loss,
saying "I felt at times I was drowning. It felt like a sea of wet blankets.”
Travolta also opened up about his grieving process during an on-stage interview at the
theater Royal Drury Lane in London. “Life was no longer interesting to me, so it took a lot
to get me better." The actor also confessed that he “didn’t want to wake up” following the tragedy.
In April 2021, the star decided to pay homage to his son on what would have been his 29th birthday.
He uploaded a black and white picture with Jett on his Instagram account, where he wrote,
“Happy birthday my beautiful Jetty. I love you." John’s daughter, Ella, also shared a
tribute to her brother. In the caption, she wrote “I love you Jetty. Happy birthday.”
Times were difficult for the couple, but joy entered their lives once again when
Preston gave birth to a second son one year after Jett’s passing. In 2018, Preston showed
they had been able to recover their happiness when she opened up about what she liked most
about Travolta during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live. She said, “His lips, dancing, fun,
laughing. Kids dance with us, we dance at the house. We go out dancing. Yeah, I love it.”
However, in July 2020 the family was sadly affected by tragedy once again
when Preston died of breast cancer at age 57. A representative said to People
magazine, "Choosing to keep her fight private, she had been undergoing medical
treatment for some time, supported by her closest family and friends. She was a bright,
beautiful and loving soul who cared deeply about others and who brought life to everything she
touched. Her family asks for your understanding of their need for privacy at this time"
The actor also announced the sad news on his Instagram, explaining that Kelly had been
sick with cancer for two years. He also thanked her nurses and doctors. At the end of the post,
he wrote “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.”
In October of that same year, the actor paid tribute to his wife on what would have been her
58th birthday. He uploaded a beautiful picture of their wedding on Instagram,
together with a picture of his parents’ wedding, and wrote “Happy Birthday hon! “I found this photo
of my mom and dad‘s wedding. It was nice to see ours alongside theirs. All my love, John.”
In an interview with Esquire Spain, John opened up about Kelly’s death. "I have learned that mourning
someone, mourning, is personal,” the star said. "The most important thing you can do to
help another when they are in mourning is to allow them to live it and not complicate it with yours."
He also spoke about his children, saying he was teaching Ella to work in film. The two have a
very special connection, and John even set his daughter up on a date with her childhood crush,
Taylor Lautner. When mentioning Benjamin, he said that he wants to help his son evolve.
“The best thing I do is try to get to that part of life that allows me to
enjoy it, and that joy is experiencing dance, music ... and people," he added.
On Mother's Day 2021, the actor honored his late wife again. This time, he wrote on Instagram,
“Dearest Kelly, you brought into my life three of the most wonderful children I have ever known.
Thank you. We love and miss you. Happy Mother’s Day.”
Travolta is currently single, focusing on his family and recovering from loss. Here at Rumour
Juice, we wish him the best in his healing journey and hope he and his children find happiness again.