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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Ayeesha Walsh

Olivia Newton-John's husband John Easterling praises love story during memorial tribute

Olivia Newton-John's husband John Easterling shared details of the 'magical' love he and his wife had during her state memorial on Sunday

Speaking from the stage at Hamer Hall in Melbourne, he shared a series of anecdotes from their lengthy romance with mourners at the service.

John, 70, sang his praises for Olivia's incredible talent and the 'supernatural' love they had as he described the moment he first realised how gifted she was.

He said: "You have to understand I wasn't an Olivia fan, I didn't know any Olivia music, I hadn't even seen Grease and this was a small, intimate theatre in Miami and the lights went down and I heard Peruvian flutes and she started singing Pearls on a Chain.

John and Olivia shared a 'supernatural' love story (Getty Images)

"And there was healing in the audience, people around me were crying. I got it. It hit me like a laser beam in the chest that Olivia was a healer and this is one of her mediums of healing."

Another shared memory saw John discuss a trip to Prague where they visited bohemian cafes and talked about how lucky they were to have one another.

He said: "We were talking about how lucky we were to have found each other. And how in love we were. And how much happiness we were experiencing.

"We thought maybe we should feel guilty because we were so happy, but we decided we'd feel gratitude and just let the happiness run at full throttle."

The couple married in 2008 (Getty Images)
John spoke in detail about his wife at the ceremony (Getty Images)

Becoming visibly emotional John then shared details of the moment Olivia unexpectedly proposed to him.

He continued: "We ended up in Scottsdale on Valentine's Day and I started a charade at dinner and the secret phrase was, 'Will you marry me'. And she got 'will' and she got 'you' and I said rhymes with hairy. Then out of nowhere, she just said, 'Will you marry me? And I said 'yes'."

"She looked stunned for a minute and then started laughing and said, 'you ratbag.' That is the story of how Olivia proposed to me."

John was visibly emotional as he spoke about Olivia (Getty Images)

Attendees at the service listened intently as he went on to describe more details of his late wife's incredible life and where she often found happiness, including in her charitable work.

The service took place six months after Olivia sadly passed away in August 2022 at the age of 73 after a long battle with metastatic breast cancer.

The pair met in the 90s and eventually wed in June 2008 in an Incan spiritual ceremony in Peru, which they followed up with a legal ceremony nine days later on Jupiter Island in Florida.

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