Olivia’s niece recalled final conversation with aunt
The singer’s niece revealed that the family would be accepting the offer of a state funeral in Australia.
By Samantha Leathers
Australian actress and singer Caroline Tottie Goldsmith appeared in a heart wrenching interview just days after her aunt Olivia Newton-John died in early August. Newton-John would have turned 74 on September 26 but her niece claimed the star’s death was not a shock to her nearest and dearest — 30 years after her first cancer diagnosis.
Goldsmith, 60, appeared on the Australian television program, A Current Affair, just days after her aunt’s death and shared that Newton-John’s health had been rapidly declining in the days before.
Newton-John spent her last days in her Californian home, hundreds of miles away from Goldsmith who is thought to live in New South Wales, Australia. The family realised that they should start saying goodbye to their beloved Olivia, but Goldsmith could not get to America.
She instead contacted John Easterling, Newton-John’s husband, and asked if he could hold the phone to her aunt’s ear so that she could say a few last words.
Goldsmith exclaimed: “He got me on facetime! I managed to see her and told her all the things I needed to say and wanted to say on behalf of my brother and sister as well because she’s been more of a mother to us.”
Steadily becoming more emotional, Goldsmith added that she could tell “she was leaving us” but was happy that she was able to say her goodbyes.
Although it may not have been a shock for the family, Goldsmith noted that Newton-John’s eternally positive attitude left doubt that this would in fact be their last time talking to each other.
She explained: “She always put on such a brave face. She’s so optimistic we were optimistic. There’s always this part of your mind that goes: ‘Maybe she’ll just suddenly come back and she’ll be fine’. But it wasn’t just the cancer that got her it was other complications, being in a hospital and with a very susceptible immune system. She got secondary infections.”
Goldsmith later recalled a touching moment when she visited Newton-John while she was in her own cancer centre, the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre, in Melbourne.
She said: “There was one day, she was in her hospital and not many people knew she was there. She was really skinny and really unwell and I said to her: ‘Are you afraid of dying?’.”
Newton-John replied, using the nickname she had for Goldsmith: “Plonker I’m not afraid. I’ve done more in my life than I could’ve ever imagined.”
Talking on the podcast A Life of Greatness in 2021, which would become one of her last interviews, Newton-John expanded on why she wasn’t afraid of death: “We all know we’re going to die, but I think we spend our lives in denial. It’s extremely personal so it’s hard to put into words.””
“I feel that we are all one thing and I’ve had experiences with spirits and spirit life. I believe there is something that happens. I hope the energies of the people you love will be there. I think all the love will be there. I’m sort of looking forward to that, not now, but when it happens.”
The Physical singer had first been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, and after undergoing extensive treatment was given the all-clear. Unfortunately, in 2013 she would be re-diagnosed and through another round of treatment before once again getting a clean bill of health.
Shortly after this diagnosis, Newton-John created the centre she would later be a patient in, and Goldsmith claimed it was this building as well as her other cancer research funds and foundations that gave the singer a purpose in life.
Goldsmith said: “I think the cancer centre really kept her going, it wasn’t ‘being Olivia Newton-John it was helping people and I know that. She was really blown away by the impact she had on people around the world. I spent a lot of time in there because I worked with her from the ground up before it was even built.”
“I was often with her when she was doing rounds and the way she touched people’s hearts, the cancer centre was more important to her than her career. She was deeply, deeply passionate about what she could give back.”
Goldsmith confirmed that the family would be accepting the offer of a state funeral for the late Newton-John, saying: “I think Australia needs it.”
On August 11, Deadline reported that the premier of Victoria had announced the family’s decision to have a state funeral, but noted it would be “much more of a concert than a funeral”.
It is uncertain when the state funeral will take place.
Original article