Olivia dumps her goody goody image - Star

STUNNING superstar Olivia Newton-John has decided that at 31 it's time to shatter her Miss Goody Two Shoes image once and for all.

She declared in an exclusive interview with me that she is now a single, mature and independent woman enjoying her new-found freedom.

I'm too old to be innocent, confessed the bubbly blond singer. who played a sweet teen in the hit movie Grease. I'm not what would be called a tough woman, but I am just not a goody-goody.

Among the revelations she made to finally put her girl-next-door reputation behind her, she:
ADMITTED she has been dating a dancer 11 years her junior after ending her long romance.
ANNOUNCED that she has no intention of getting married in the near future.
DISCLOSED that in her up-coming movie Xanadu she is seen in some sexy scenes.

I'm glad to be on my own again, said Olivia, who recently split up with her boyfriend of seven years, Lee Kramer. I'm far too busy to meet, much less fall in love with, anyone new at present.

She added: It's not easy to be in love with a man or be married while working in showbusiness. I don't want to be somebody's little girl. I don't want to be dependent on anybody.

Speaking at my lakefront Connecticut home, which she visited after jetting to New York en route to see her family in Australia, Olivia talked candidly about her current lifestyle compared to her old-fashioned cutesy image, as well as marriage plans compared to her career.

It's a popular fantasy about my innocence, but it makes me sound as if I'm not human, she said. There's innocence and then there's innocence I'm broad-minded, and I'm not innocent.

To be honest, I've never understood why people have always told me they've got a girl at home their mother, their sister or girlfriend like me.

People change and grow as they get older. I'm a little more game to try new things than I used to be. I'm more adventurous. I do all the things that real women enjoy.

There are far more parts to me than that girl-next-door image. I am growing and expanding. It's not a sudden change of labels. It's just that in retaining my own identity I am now a woman.

I'm really very happy at the present stage of my life.

And the girl who once dreamed as a youngster of growing up to be a simple jillaroo the female equivalent of an Australian cowboy has a good reason to be smiling.

She earned a staggering $12-million share from her Grease movie and another $12 million from her best-selling records and standing-room only concert tours. Her $20-million musical extravaganza Xanadu is also expected to be a smash.

And Olivia frankly admitted that her career comes before her love life. So even though she has been seeing 20-year-old Matt Lattanzi, a background dancer in her new film, marriage is definitely out of the question.

I haven't yet run into the man I believe I'll spend the rest of my life with, she said.

There's no need to rush anything like that at the moment. she said. One day I will be ready for marriage, but it isn't just yet.

When I finally make those vows, I want it to last forever. Unfortunately, I've never seen relationships close to me and my family that have lasted forever, so you reach the point of believing they're not possible.

But I don't say I'll never get married. However, I couldn't have a family without it happening. I want lots of children, but I wouldn't have them out of wedlock. Fortunately there's time for all of that.

If I get married it will be the strongest commitment I've ever made to anything so I want to be sure I make the right decision.

Marriage has destroyed many careers in my business - and because I feel so strong about that eventual commitment. I have to sacrifice it for my career for now.

To be loyal can be costly. You can't go in front of the cameras worrying about your man waiting for you, or staying up late to keep him happy.

In a relationship, when liking somebody becomes a special fond ness that turns to love, it inevitably leads to a decision. At the moment, my decision is that I don't want to get married, so I've turned down all the proposals.

Most of the love tangles I hear I'm involved in just aren't real experiences. It would be a pity if I felt I had to jump about from one man to another.

I hear about women leaping into bed with the nearest man or as a substitute turning to drinking. I'm not putting down sex or alcohol but it's just a cover-up for something lacking in the brain.

I'm quite level headed. I think of myself as practical and reasonably intelligent. I've never been to a psychiatrist.

The most I drink is a little wine at dinner or after a show. I've never taken sleeping pills. I would never let myself get to the stage where I lost control of myself.

I think women might be getting a little too independent. It could lead to a backlash of problems. Today, many men don't treat women the same because of it. Independent women just don't get the car doors held open for them anymore.

Olivia added: Fortunately, I was given a good upbringing by my parents. It was a strong foundation for my life that enables me to survive everything.

By Robin Leach