I've Lost My Best Friend

20s

thanks to Kay

While the entire world is mourning the passing of the iconic Olivia Newton-John, one man is feeling the loss more acutely than most. Mere minutes after Olivia’s death at age 73 was announced last week, her grieving Grease co-star John Travolta shared a heart-rending tribute to his dearest friend.

John – who played Danny Zuko opposite Olivia’s Sandy Olsson in the hit 1978 movie – said, You made all of our lives so much better. Your impact was incredible. I love you so much. We will see you down the road and we will all be together again. Yours from the moment I saw you and forever! Your Danny, your John. On August 8, following her 30-year breast cancer journey, Olivia passed away peacefully at the Southern California ranch she shared with husband John Easterling. The legendary entertainer was surrounded by loved ones, including her 36-year-old daughter Chloe Lattanzi. John is crushed, shares a close friend, speaking exclusively to New Idea. Olivia was candid about the fact that once her cancer had metastasized [in 2017, from her breast to her spine], she was living on limited time. Even still, nothing can really prepare you for this.

All while knowing of her own diagnosis, in 2020 Olivia supported John through his own breast cancer nightmare, when he lost his wife Kelly Preston to the disease when she was 57.

John wouldn’t have coped without Olivia, says our source. She called him as often as she could. For John to lose Kelly and then Livvy – the two women he loved most in the world – within two years is unfathomable.

John supported Olivia through her first cancer battle in 1992 after she learnt of her diagnosis in the same week her father, Bryn, passed away from the disease. He was there again when it returned in 2013. Around this time, Olivia sadly lost her older sister Rona to cancer.

Sources say John also offered a supportive shoulder when Olivia’s boyfriend Patrick McDermott mysteriously vanished from a fishing boat in Los Angeles in 2005.

Olivia and John’s lifelong friendship was cemented after being unexpectedly catapulted to fame in Grease.

There [was] only one person in the world that was Sandy, and that was Olivia Newton-John, John once told Entertainment Tonight.

In fact, John says he told Grease producers they must cast the Aussie bombshell because every guy in the world wants Olivia Newton-John as their girlfriend. And I knew that because I wanted that … I felt the same way.

Despite their obvious chemistry, the pair never become romantically involved as they were dating other people at the time. However, co-star Didi Conn, who played Frenchy in Grease, insists John had a huge crush on his leading lady.

Drawn to each other, Olivia and John teamed up again in 1983’s Two of a Kind. In 2019, they reunited in full Danny and Sandy garb in Florida to sing their duet ‘You’re the One That I Want’.

At the time, Olivia revealed she couldn’t stop laughing, while John said that it was one of the highlights of our lives.

At that stage they both probably knew it was their last performance together, speculates the insider. So it’s no wonder they gave it everything they had.

Sources say John and Olivia managed to chat in her final days, with one insider saying, Olivia has always been worried about her daughter Chloe. If I know John, he would have promised to look out for Chloe, just like Olivia did with [his daughter] Ella when her mum died.

Olivia would’ve found peace from that.

Theirs was a beautiful relationship that started more than 50 years ago when they met as starryeyed teenagers in London, after beginning their careers in Australia. And Olivia’s friendship with John Farnham certainly stood the test of time, with the pair joining forces in February 2020 to raise money for bushfire victims. It would be Olivia’s last ever public performance – not that anyone knew it at the time.

I feel like I’ve known [John] most of my life, on-and-off … and I’ve always been a huge fan of his, Olivia gushed in a 2015 interview. I think he’s the most amazing singer, one of my favourite singers of all time, for sure. We have fun together and our voices go well together.

The love and respect was mutual. A heartbroken John, 73, was shattered to learn of his dear friend’s death last week, just months after losing his best mate, legendary promoter Glenn Wheatley, who shared his affection for Olivia.

The Farnham family send love and sympathies to Olivia’s family, John said in a statement. Behind that iconic smile was a tenacious fighter. A beautiful voice and a loyal friend. She will be greatly missed.

PAT FARRAR

Ever since the first glimmer of Olivia’s talent began to emerge, Pat Farrar (nee Carroll) has been by her side.

After winning talent shows in Australia as teenagers, the bright-eyed singing wannabes found themselves in Olivia’s native England. A firm duet both on and off the stage began – and it lasted a lifetime.

Pat, now in her 70s and living in Malibu, has been left absolutely devastated over the loss of Olivia, after being one of her closest confidantes since the 1960s.

She’s my dearest friend, we’ve been friends for 54 years now, Pat said in an interview with Sunday Night in 2018, just after Olivia’s third and final cancer diagnosis was made public. She is just a wonderful girl and is there for me always, she added.

The two women faced the best and worst of times together. In 1983, they launched their joint pet project Koala Blue, a Us-based chain of Aussie themed shops and clothes. However, it went bankrupt after eight years in business.

We expanded too fast, Olivia rued at the time. It was depressing, but you can’t dwell on the past.

During Pat’s Sunday Night interview, she spoke of her awe for Olivia – something New Idea understands continued until her final days.

Her first [diagnosis] was a shock for all of us but she handled it with so much dignity and was always so positive … always more worried about how her friends were dealing with it, Pat said.