Grammy Award winner Olivia Newton-John and her first husband Matt Lattanzi met when he was a dancer in the 1980 rock ‘n’ roll musical ”Xanadu.” He acted as a stand-in before the team found a leading man, and he and Newton-John struck up a friendship immediately.
Lattanzi asked the singer out three months later, and the pair kept their romance a secret for over a year before going public. They also bonded over their love for rustic living, exercise, tennis, and skiing.
Initially, Lattanzi worried that their 10-year age difference would be something many frowned upon. Still, Newton-John felt he was mature and handled himself and their relationship so well that it was barely noticeable.
Newton-John was also terrified of marriage at the very beginning of their relationship, stemming from the failed marriages she would see around her. However, her relationship with Lattanzi went so well that she decided to give marriage a chance.
They married six years after meeting, in an intimate ceremony at their home where Lattanzi gave Newton-John a gold heart locket. She would later disclose:
“I’d had pangs about having a child, but I was terrified of getting married. It finally just felt like the natural thing to do, and I’d never felt that way before.”
A little over a year after walking down the aisle with Lattanzi, Newton-John became a mother. She had suddenly started experiencing unusual cravings, longing for avocados while she previously despised them.
She remembers buying an at-home pregnancy test kit and could not be happier at the results. She was thrilled at the prospects of becoming a mom, and when she shared the news with her husband, he was equally excited.
Lattanzi, who had been away visiting family in Oregon, caught the first flight home, and the two celebrated over dinner at an elegant restaurant.
They welcomed their baby girl, Chloe Rose Lattanzi, in January 1986. At 40, the “Grease” actress finally found happiness in motherhood. She said of her daughter upon her birth:
“She is just beautiful.”
Chloe was a blessing and reason for happiness for Lattanzi and Newton-John as they’d been trying for a baby since they wed over a year earlier.
And while Newton-John loved her work in the pop world, motherhood changed her perspective on many things, and she decided she wanted to dedicate her life to being a mother and wife.
She stopped making music to raise her beautiful daughter and enjoy home life. “I’m far too busy being a mum to Chloe,” she said.
Everything seemed to work well for Newton-John and her little family. She had a husband that she adored and a daughter that brought her so much joy. Unfortunately, in 1992, the singer received some shocking news after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The news was a blow to the singer and her husband, but they took it in stride and decided to relocate to Newton-John’s 187-acre ranch in Australia, which she had purchased with her proceeds from the 1978 movie-musical “Grease.”
The French-style property is set near Byron Bay in New South Wales and consists of eight lots. It features a three bedroom, two bathroom main house with a large eat-in kitchen.
The rustic interiors feature timber floors and fossil-like walls featuring bits of shell and pebbles from nearby beaches. The vast property also features a four-room guest suite with an extra bedroom accessible from the side of the main house.
“The expansive view from the farm is breathtaking and captured my heart all those years ago.” She described the vast and beautiful property.
The home also boasts a terracotta-colored exterior, rustic interiors, and wraparound terraces. The sprawling estate has a rich rainforest with a natural waterfall, two dams, a creek, and a large bird population that “brings glorious morning bird songs.”.
It also borders the Victoria Park Nature Reserve and has two streams. Newton-John considered life on the ranch much simpler and happier. To her, it was a mixed blessing with the benefits of a less materialistic and more people-oriented environment. She shared:
“It’s a magical spot that is the home for many different species of wildlife.”
Raising their daughter on the farm brought Newton-John and Lattanzi more bliss than she had ever imagined. The rustic and natural environment was ideal for nature lovers and suited them perfectly.
Living on the farm also helped Newton-John’s health, and with her husband by her side, taking care of her, she recovered from her cancer.
Unfortunately, their life of bliss was short-lived. From the onset of their union, everyone thought them an odd couple. They came from worlds apart, and despite their mutual interests, they also loved different things.
Sadly, after the “Two of a Kind” actress recovered from her partial mastectomy, the two became incredibly aware of their differences, so much that couples therapy could not help the situation.
Their marriage hit rock bottom in 1995, and they divorced. In addition to a failed marriage, Newton-John also became bankrupt.
Unfortunately, the actress was diagnosed with cancer again in 2013 but battled it privately. However, she had a third diagnosis in 2018 when she announced that it had metastasized to the base of her spine.
Throughout her third bout of the illness, her daughter Chloe was by her side. She disclosed that while they’ve always shared a close mother-daughter bond, they became closer while quarantined together during the coronavirus pandemic.
After the cancer stage 4 diagnosis in 2018, Newton-John began selling her real-estate property to invest more into the Olivia Newton-John Cancer & Wellness Centre at Melbourne’s Austin Hospital.
Sadly, Newton-John, who many described as a fighter, passed away at her Southern California ranch on August 8, 2022, at 73. She left behind her husband of 14 years, John Easterling, and her daughter.