Heartbroken Olivia moves on
The heartbroken singer talks about the pain of 'moving on' with her life
Olivia Newton-John, has finally broken her silence over the mysterious disappearance of her troubled lover Patrick McDermott.
Speaking to respected US TV host Diane Sawyer, an emotional Olivia admitted, “It’s very hard to talk about this as it’s a very painful topic.”
Olivia was careful not to confirm or deny that she had broken up with Patrick before he went missing from a chartered fishing boat off the coast of California in June. But the singer did cautiously confirm that she was slowly moving on with her life and hadn’t given up on finding love again one day.
“In the beginning, I was just kind of frozen,” Olivia said of finding out that Patrick was missing. “Then you have to move forward.”
The topic is made even more painful by the bizarre circumstances following Patrick’s disappearance.
Olivia’s nephew, Emerson Newton-John, told Woman’s Day that months before he went missing, Patrick and Olivia had ended their nine-year relationship due to Patrick’s problems with alcohol and debt.
But Olivia told Diane Sawyer that she couldn’t go into any details because the investigation into his disappearance was ongoing.
“It’s still an investigation and I just… I love him… as you can imagine, it’s an incredibly hard thing to go through.
“We miss him,” Olivia said. “We love him. We’re still kind of praying that he’ll still come back, and that’s all I can say.”
Determined Olivia, 57, who beat breast cancer in the 1990s, has since organised a private investigation into the 48-year-old’s disappearance.
Investigators are treating the mystery as an open case and an emotional Olivia told Diane she is still hopeful Patrick will be found alive.
Olivia revealed she’s been in seclusion since learning of Patrick’s disappearance, taking refuge in her family through this difficult time.
But the singer says that battles of the past have taught her that moving ahead with her life and her love of music is the best way to deal with her grief.
More from Olivia’s interview on Good Morning America.