'I took them until I could see the light again': Olivia Newton-John opens up about anti-depressants and therapy
Playing John Travolta’s high school heart-throb in Grease, she seemed like she hadn’t a care in the world.
But in real life, Olivia Newton-John’s life has not been all sunshine..
The actress has revealed she needed antidepressants and therapy to help her though the most difficult periods of her life.
And she said her daughter has had hardships of her own, struggling to live up to her mother’s fame and suffering from anorexia.
Miss Newton-John, 64, is married to businessman John Easterling.
In 2005, she took anti-depressants for three months after her partner of nine-years Patrick McDermott vanished on a fishing trip off the Californian coast. He never returned and was presumed drowned.
She told The Times: “Of course I still think about him. It was a difficult time and got me out of a hole. I took them until I could see the light again and never did them again. I didn’t want to become dependent on them. That’s why I stopped.”
Miss Newton-John was born in England but moved to Australia as a child.
Next month, she will return to the UK for her first concert tour on these shores since 1978.
In 1992, she cancelled a comeback tour after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
She has one daughter, Chloe, 27, with her former husband Matt Lattanzi, who she divorced in 1995.
Asked if she had ever had therapy, she said: ‘Yes, a few times. Once when I had cancer, another when he disappeared and also during my divorce.
“I needed it. It gives you the told to help you heal and deal with things.”
In 2007, Chloe admitted she had suffered from an eating disorder as a teenager, saying: “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’m taking very good care of myself now.”
Miss Newton-John said: “She’s through that now, but obviously it was very difficult as a parent to watch.”
The singer and actress was 29 when she starred as 18-year-old Sandy Olsson in iconic musical Grease.
Admitting her daughter, a singer-songwriter, has struggled to emerge from her shadow, she said: “It’s hard for children of famous people. They think they should live up to their parents.”
Last December, Miss Newton-John and her Grease co-star Travolta released a Christmas album.
The star said the iconic leather trousers she wore in the film are now “hanging in mothballs”.
She added it would be a ‘bit weird’ if people continue to talk about her Grease in 20 years but revealed she “may” work with him again, saying: “It took us 30 years to do this. We don’t want to rush anything.”
Original article