Inside Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta's 40-year-long platonic relationship
Inside Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta's 40-year-long platonic relationship
Averee NelsonSat, August 8, 2026 at 9:00 AM UTC
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Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta maintained a lifelong friendship after starring in Grease -Credit:Getty Images
Despite persistent inquiries about romance rumors throughout their lifetimes, Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta remained platonic friends throughout their years-long relationship.
Fans and all of Hollywood will be remembering the talent of the British-born Australian actress and singer on Aug. 8, as it’s been four years since she died at 73 years old at her ranch in Southern California. She had been battling breast cancer on-and-off for about 30 years.
Newton-John and Travolta first met through their roles as Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson in the 1978 hit musical-comedy Grease, where they played love interests on screen and built a lifelong friendship off-screen. This comes after John Travolta posed for a rare picture with his daughter at the Cannes Film Festival.
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You could say they have been “hopelessly devoted” to each other as pals. Following the release of Grease, Newton-John and Travolta remained lifelong friends for 44 years until her death in 2022.
They met again on screen as love interests in the 1983 romantic-fantasy film Two of a Kind. They collaborated musically once again on the movie's soundtrack, contributing a song called Take a Chance.
Their first collaboration after those two movies was in 2012 when they teamed up to release their holiday album This Christmas.
Outside of their working relationship as actors and their close friendship, they didn’t go any further as far as romance goes.
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta kissed at a party for Grease at Paramount Studios -Credit:Getty Images
However, Newton-John and Travolta did share a kiss off-screen when they attended a party for Grease at Paramount Studios the year the movie was released. But it seems to be nothing more than them showing off their on-screen chemistry ahead of the movie premiere.
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They attended many events together over the years and were photographed together, but romantically, they both went in different directions.
Why didn’t Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta get married?
Newton-John got married to her husband, John Easterling, in 2008, while Travolta tied the knot with Kelly Preston in 1991. Preston later died at age 57 in 2020 after battling breast cancer.
In a biography by Matthew Hild titled A Little More Love: The Life and Legacy of Olivia Newton-John, he claimed that Newton-John had asked around about Travolta's involvement with Scientology.
The book revealed that a musician who had been married to a Scientologist joined Newton-John’s band, and it detailed a conversation they had about Travolta, as first reported by People.
They starred in the 1983 romantic-fantasy film Two of a Kind -Credit:Getty Images
“I know the Church of Scientology really reveres him as a very valuable follower. If I had married John, would he have expected me to become a Scientologist?” Newton-John asked the bandmate, according to the book.
“It would not have been mandatory, but it would have been encouraged, put it that way,” the bandmate responded.
“Thank you,” she replied. “That's all I want to know.”
He also claimed that they “were very, very close. Almost that close.” However, they have both maintained in interviews throughout the years that their relationship was a close friendship.
How did John Travolta react when Olivia Newton-John died?
John Travolta posted a tribute on Instagram for Olivia Newton-John after she died -Credit:Getty Images
Travolta paid tribute to the Sandy to his Danny in an Instagram post following her death. Travolta wrote, “My dearest Olivia, 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 first moment I saw you and forever! Your Danny, your John!” he wrote.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
