Wealth Makes Olivia Feel Guilty - Veronica

Translation:

If she weren't so tanned, you'd see how easily she blushes, Olivia Newton-John, superstar, thirty and still a tad shy. Virginal charm, coupled with an innocent glance. That's how she is.

She's a bit apprehensive about having to answer the same questions again. We promise to be original.

First question: What's John Travolta like? Olivia sighs deeply, but can't help but smile at the question she's been asked the most in her life.

He's a sweet guy. He has a heart. He was a great support during the filming of Grease. It was my film debut, and he already had a lot of experience. Sometimes he made a mistake on purpose. He did it because he thought I could do that scene better. To keep the take from sticking, he made a mistake. Very sweet.

I was also really scared about the Grease screen test. I had to do the scene with John at the drive-in movie theater. He gives me a ring, but he really wants to make out with me. I get a sense of his intentions and flee the car. When we had to start that, I was incredibly nervous. I felt awful. But John remained calm and told me exactly what to do

Her dancing performance in Grease is not very impressive. Olivia: Yet I practiced almost non-stop for fourteen days. But there you go again. I was fourteen when I went to dances at university. That was a disaster for me, because I didn't dare move at all. Since then, I've always had the fear that I would fall flat on my face again, while everyone was watching. In that respect, I've never excelled in self-confidence.

Talent show

Olivia was born in England. At the age of five, she moved to Australia. Six years later, her parents divorced, and she moved with her mother to an apartment in Melbourne. At fourteen, she won a television talent show with a trip back to England as the prize. A sad development for her parents.

Olivia comes from an intellectual family. Her grandfather was the German physicist Max Born, who once won the Nobel Prize. Instead of going to university, Olivia became a professional singer.

She's in a serious relationship with the young but very determined Lee Kramer, who is also her manager.

How did the rumor get around that she's a lesbian? Olivia: There's so much gossip. I think some Australian singer once confessed on TV that she's a lesbian. Some people have very carelessly linked that to me. But I'm not, you know.

Cowboy boots

It's also not true that Lee Kramer is very happily lining his own pockets by living off Olivia's purse. He comes from a wealthy background, but abandoned his family at fifteen and wandered the world. He came back with a few thousand pounds and invested it in a shoe company. He opened his first shop at seventeen. Now he is the biggest cowboy boot seller in Europe with a turnover of 25 million guilders a year.

I met Olivia in Monte Carlo, he says. I was swimming near my boat there and when I looked up I saw a blonde, beautiful, sunburnt girl with the biggest eyes I have ever seen. I immediately cut my holiday short and got a seat next to her on the plane to London. I've been with her ever since. Also been away again, but yeah.

Olivia: I need him. He's someone who keeps pushing me. Lee also makes me feel safe. Strange things happen sometimes. The other day I found a letter in my dressing room, threatening to kill me during that concert. Lee keeps going until he finds the person. There was also someone who wanted to set fire to my management's office. I don't know why. Only because they had something to do with me. We have to be very careful.

Own happiness

After some thought, she opens her beautiful eyes again and answers the question of whether she is living comfortably under all that pressure. It's only recently that I've realized that everyone has to make their own happiness to some extent, because the world is lonely and hard. I've always been too busy to think about that. I don't know exactly what's going on in the world of the average person, because I get treated very differently than the average person. I don't know reality. Lately, I've become more and more aware of things. I used to just do whatever I wanted without thinking about it.

Now that I'm getting older, I'm realizing what drives me. I can also feel very guilty when I look at my wealth in Malibu. A beautiful house, horses, expensive clothes, cars. Why don't other people have all that, I wonder. I find that hard to reconcile.

And furthermore? Does she have any fears? Olivia: Yes, one. But I'm not alone in that. That might also stem from the guilt complex that everything is going so well. I'm afraid of dying. Strange, right?

Text: Anne Bergsma Photos: Barry Schultz

Television Saturday, December 30, Nederland 1. Details