Olivia Newton-John had not been scared of death, her niece Tottie Goldsmith has revealed in an interview about the late actor – who sadly passed away earlier this week.
It was announced yesterday that Olivia had passed away, aged 73, surrounded by family and friends at her ranch in Southern California. Her husband John Easterling shared the news in a touching statement as he paid tribute to his wife.
The news has prompted tributes and reflection of her legacy, including from her niece Tottie, 59 – who spoke about the beloved actor in an emotional interview.
She said that Olivia – who announced in 2017 that she was facing her third bout of cancer, after an initial diagnosis in 1992 – had not been afraid of dying during her final years.
Tottie – the daughter of Olivia's sister Rona Newton-John, who died in 2013 – opened up about her maternal aunt in an interview with A Current Affair in Australia.
She said Grease icon Olivia had become "really skinny and unwell" a few years ago, and was having treatment at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute in Melbourne at the time.
Tottie recalled in the recent interview: "I said to her, 'Are you afraid of dying?'. [...] She said, 'I'm not, I'm not afraid, I've done more in my life than I could have ever imagined.'"
Tottie added: "She honestly never imagined her life would be how it was." She suggested that the cancer centre, established by Olivia, had kept her going through her illness.
"She was really blown away with the impact she had on people [...] She was deeply, deeply passionate about what she could give back to this planet," she explained.
The interview also saw Tottie discuss her aunt's more recent health, commenting of her death: "It's not a shock. We've known how sick she's been, especially the last five days."
Tottie said she'd was unable to get to the US before Olivia's passing, so they had a video call in which she "told [her aunt] all the things [she] needed to say" before her death.
She referred to her aunt Olivia as having been "optimistic" through her health struggles and added: "She had always put on such a brave face but she had struggled."
And discussing her passing, she said: "It wasn't just the cancer that got her, it was other complications, being in a hospital and with a very susceptible immune system."
