March Baby For Olivia
By Jenny Cullen
Olivia Newton-John’s baby is certain to be a “dinky-di” Aussie. After all, Mum is not only a singer-actress, but also co-owner of Los Angeles’ Aussie boutique Koala Blue which is about to go international and the proud promoter of all things Australian. Olivia, 37, who married actor- dancer Matt Lattanzi, 27, in December last year, is expecting her baby to arrive next March.
At Matt and Olivia’s sprawling ranch at Malibu, which they share with four cats, 12 dogs and four horses, the mum-to-be is planning a nursery one that will be decorated with Aussie fun features such as three china kangaroos in wild-flower shorts that “fly” up the wall, big Ken Done posters of Sydney Harbor and a wooden kangaroo on rockers. Ever since Australia’s favorite daughter married, the U.S. press have been announcing almost weekly that Olivia is pregnant. Several papers also announced in February and in May that she had miscarried. When Olivia finally had the news confirmed that she and Matt were expecting a baby, no one in Tinseltown was surprised. In fact, Olivia is the first to admit that whenever she wore her favorite casual clothes big Jenny Kee knits teamed with Stewart Membery pleated skirts the press were convinced it meant she was hiding a secret, and a baby was due in November this year at the latest.
“It was ridiculous,” she says, adding that none of the newspapers asked her for confirmation. Olivia, who sold one of her Malibu homes to newly weds Sean Penn and Madonna for $1.4 million, has found a radiant happiness and contented maturity since her marriage. “I am so happy,” she tells friends. “Living with Matt was wonderful but marriage is even better. I don’t know why we didn’t get married sooner. It just gets better”. Olivia has cancelled plans to do an hour’s TV special to promote her new album Soul Kiss, being launched in October. It is her first album since the smash hit Physical.
