Family First
By Graham Bicknell
Olivia Newton-John’s battle with breast cancer forced her husband Matt Lattanzi to take a step back and seriously consider his priorities. But it didn’t take long. The boyish American construction boss and actor knew almost immediately the course he had to take. Olivia and their daughter Chloe come first, so he handed his business over to his brother, sold everything and brought them home. Sitting in a coffee shop opposite the luxury resort hotel where Matt, Olivia and Chloe are staying while he works on his role as Cooper Hart in the latest television soap Paradise Beach, Matt reveals how everything seemed to fall into place.
A friendly, thoughtful Californian, Matt was told by his friend, Blue Lagoon star Christopher Atkins, that there were projects coming up in Australia. It was at a time when Olivia was undergoing chemotherapy after her much-publicised operation for breast cancer and Matt was already considering his family’s future. “We were pulling up stakes anyway, selling everything we had, so this sort of news fell into line,” Matt says. “Christopher told me about The Man From Snowy River and Paradise Beach. I asked him where they were shooting Paradise Beach and he said the Gold Coast. I said: Oh, really, that’s near where we have a place. I got hold of a script and soon after that I was in.”
Although Matt, Olivia and Chloe have been able to make only brief visits to their avocado- producing property near Ballina in far northern New South Wales where they can truly relax, the family already feels much happier after escaping the violence which now permeates the United States. “Yes, the violence was definitely one of the reasons for the move,” admits Matt. “Los Angeles has a bad reputation now, especially after the riots last year. The media played it up, it wasn’t as bad as it seemed, but what it really did was affect the morale of the city. It was demeaning and it brought a new low for L.A. So that was a factor, I didn’t want to raise my daughter in that. But I must also emphasise here that Livvy’s recovery was at the forefront of my decision.”
“If Paradise Beach was to be shot in New York City, I certainly would not have taken the job. You definitely don’t get too many opportunities in life to go in the direction you want to travel and when something is handed to you virtually on a platter - clear road sign - then you better be ready. And be ready to change. So when this happened to Livvy I made the decision, quickly. I said, Yey, I can do it. I can pull up stakes, do the domestic things I need to do fast, go to work and get Livvy and Chloe out of there.”
Matt, who is carefully but politely preventing any media from inundating his superstar wife with calls for interviews at present, said Olivia’s chemotherapy course after her operation had been fairly comfortable. “There are so many chemical therapy treatments, so many different recipes let’s call them. With Livvy they went with the lightest one because her cancer was not advanced enough to warrant other treatment,” he says. “Livvy didn’t lose her hair or experience much nausea, except for two or three days after the first treatment.”
And even A Current Affair’s Mike Willesee said after interviewing her at her Malibu ranch: “She looks fantastic, and seems as happy and positive as Olivia always is.” Olivia told Mike: “I’m doing really well. I’ve got through my treatment. I just want everyone to know I’m fine.”
When Mike asked Olivia if she had confronted death, she replied: “Oh, yes, but deep down I knew I’d be all right. I think I prayed to everything, to every spiritual thing I’ve come across.” Olivia said she thought about Chloe being without her. “I wanted her to have me, as long as she can. Just to think of her by herself, that was horrible.”
While Matt, working five days a week on the hectic schedule of Paradise Beach with weekends to learn his lines, is certainly busy, he is making sure his wife takes it slowly and one step at a time. “Livvy won’t be working in the foreseeable future,” he says flatly. “But she has found some really great songs she will eventually do. We’re excited because there are so many great places to record in Australia. There’s even a recording studio on Lizard Island. So there are places where the stress levels are really low.”
“Livvy has been working for many years and she has a great talent. I feel that all she has been through lately will come out through her songs. A lot of passion comes out through music. Look at Eric Clapton. His tragedy of losing his son in such a terrible way was just about the worst thing that can happen. No, it is the worst. I have no doubt I’d give up my life for my daughter’s, and so how Eric came through that I just don’t know. He must be a pillar of granite. But what came out of it was beautiful music. And I think that will come out of this for Livvy. Her mental attitude is like Eric Clapton’s, in a sense. She’s so strong it’s uncanny. I know when it’s a facade and when it’s not. Her strength must be God-given, maybe from a past life. I don’t know. But she has an inner strength that doesn’t seem to allow her to get into a real slump. I think that’s the secret, a good mental attitude is the key to survival.”
Matt burst out laughing, but then took seriously the suggestion that as the husband of a living Australian icon he might have difficulty taking a back seat role in his wife’s home country. He thought carefully before answering: “I just find myself with my guard up a lot,” he admits. “My philosophy is that I have a compassion for anyone who wants to get on with his or her life. It is my firm belief that we all have mountains to climb and some mountains are taller than others. Livvy seems to be a light for some people, whether it’s someone on the street who asks for her autograph, or a photographer who needs a shot so that he can make a better living for his family. So I try to embrace anyone who wants to get near that light. I just feel so fortunate to be with her. I’ve never, for a second, had feelings of jealousy towards Livvy. I just feel very lucky to be where I am.”