Olivia's Outback Comeback

By David Brown

AFTER a two-year break to have her baby, Olivia Newton-John has to learn to live in the spotlight all over again. American-based Olivia spent Christmas in Australia filming a one-hour television special titled Olivia Down Under (which is due to go to air on the Seven Network on Sunday, September 4, at 7.30 pm).

Then it was back to Los Angeles and into the recording studio, followed by the launch of her new album, The Rumour, the editing of the special and publicity and promotion… not to mention overseeing her Koala Blue empire. The one thing she didn’t find time to do was become a mother again. And Olivia dismisses reports that she is expecting her second child. “Maybe next year,” she says at her luxurious Malibu ranch.

Olivia went into semi-retirement for two years to be with her daughter Chloe and now she has to face the critics all over again. “When I think about it, I think, ‘Oh God!” Olivia says. “I love the recording, the writing and all the creative side. What is difficult is putting yourself back in the firing line. You’re putting yourself out there to be criticised again.”

Olivia says her new album should please her fans because it’s different and has more adult lyrics. Promotional work and the continual expansion of the Koala Blue chain will keep her busy until next year, then it could be back in front of the film cameras. Olivia has a trump card up her sleeve her own movie project. “I co-wrote a script with a good friend of mine,” Olivia says. “We thought of it before we were married and wrote it when we were having our babies. It’s a comedy and I’m trying to have it sold.”

Olivia says she loved filming the new TV special because it took her on a whirlwind trip all over Australia. “It was exciting,” she says. “It certainly cured me of being homesick.”