Entertainment
Grease star Didi Conn reveals John Travolta had crush on late Dame Olivia Newton-John ‘right away’-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro
‘The chemistry between them was so vibrant, so real,’ the Frenchy actress recalled.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Grease actress Didi Conn has recalled what it was like to create the film with the ‘beautiful’ Dame Olivia Newton-John, revealing the ‘crush’ John Travolta developed on his co-star ‘right away’.
On Monday, it was confirmed that Dame Olivia had died at the age of 73 after first being diagnosed with breast cancer 30 years ago.
In a heartfelt tribute, John – who played Danny Zuko opposite her Sandy Olsson – wrote: ‘Yours from the first moment I saw you and forever! Your Danny, your John!’, while her husband, John Easterling, penned in a statement: ‘The holes in my heart are healed with her love’
On Thursday, Didi – who played Sandy’s best friend Frenchy – appeared on Loose Women via video chat to speak about the close connection she shared with Dame Olivia throughout their many years of friendship, which has spanned more than 40 years.
The 71-year-old said that it ‘always brings tears to her eyes’ to see a picture of her late friend, saying her death is ‘still very fresh’.
At the start of shooting for Grease, Dame Olivia asked John if he would do a screen test with her to ‘make sure that it would work’, because she’d previously starred in a movie ‘that she wasn’t pleased about’, Didi said.
The chemistry between the lead actors was ‘so vibrant’, Didi recalled (1593606a) (Picture: Moviestore/Rex/Shutterstock)
Didi helped calm Dame Olivia’s nerves on their first day of shooting (Picture: Paramount/Rso/Kobal/Shutterstock)
‘The chemistry between them was so vibrant, so real. I think they did the scene in the drive in. Who could not have a crush on John Travolta? He right away had a crush on her which was great,’ she shared.
The actress, who memorably starred in the musical number Beauty School Dropout when Frenchy debates whether to remain in beauty school or go back to high school, explained that on the first day of the production, Dame Olivia was extremely nervous.
As they prepared to film the scene where Frenchy and Sandy walked onto the school campus together, Didi decided to do some impromptu improv to help soothe her co-star’s nerves.
Didi became choked up while smiling over fond memories of the late Dame Olivia (Picture: ITV)
Dame Olivia and Didi took tot he stage together to perform Summer Nights in Las Vegas in 2015 (Picture: David Becker/WireImage)
Luckily, Didi’s clever exercise worked, and the pair were able to ‘segue right into our scene’.
Becoming choked up, the actress continued: ‘Afterwards, she said, “Thank you, thank you, I’ll always be grateful for that.” She’s told that story all through the years, that I helped her that first day. I was just having fun. We had a good time. She had this lucky part of having to be in love with John.’
The Loose Women presenters, made up of Charlene White, Denise Welch, Lady Leshurr and Nadia Sawalha, adored hearing Didi’s anecdotes about the late Dame Olivia, who will be honoured with a state funeral in Australia.
Didi, who reprised her character in the 1982 release Grease 2, said that she found the description of Dame Olivia as the ‘essence of summer’ as ‘beautiful’.
In his tribute, John wrote: ‘Yours from the first moment I saw you and forever! Your Danny, your John!’ (Picture: MediaPunch/Backgrid)
Didi said the stars of Grease remained friends over the years, speculating that they were cast because they were all ‘goofballs’ (Picture: CBS via Getty Images)
‘She is in my heart and all our hearts. Just beautiful, inside and out,’ she said in honour of her friend, before explaining how her ‘priorities shifted’ after she was diagnosed with cancer, as ‘everything became about getting well for Chloe’, her daughter.
Explaining that Dame Olivia ‘never called it surviving, she called it thriving’, Didi described her as ‘an amazing, giving, loving, beautiful person’, who felt strongly about raising awareness about early detection of cancer.
The actress also revealed that on the day Dame Olivia donned Sandy’s iconic final get-up in Grease, complete with leather-look leggings, red lipstick and big rockstar curls, ‘nobody recognised her’.
Paying homage to the caring nature of Dame Olivia, Didi shared that a couple of months ago, she ‘had a bout of something’ that she doesn’t really ‘talk about’.
However, Dame Olivia found out and sent her an orchid, which just the other day saw a bud open for the first time.
‘Thank you for honouring our dear Olivia,’ Didi said as she bid farewell at the end of the interview.
Loose Women airs weekdays from 12.30pm on ITV.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Sydney Opera House lit up in pink in honour of late Dame Olivia Newton-John following death at 73
Entertainment – MetroRead More
