Olivia Newton-John revealed in her autobiography the devastating details of her first cancer diagnosis and why she kept it from her daughter Chloe Lattanzi.
The beloved Aussie icon, who died Monday at the age of 73, wrote a memoir in 2017, talking about her battle with cancer that began in 1992.
In it, she said she found a lump during a breast self-examination and forced her doctor to run several tests that came back negative — down to the last.
Olivia Newton-John (pictured) revealed in her autobiography the devastating details of her first cancer diagnosis and why she kept it from her daughter Chloe Lattanzi
On July 3, 1992, Olivia’s husband, Matt Lattanzi, now 63, was approached by her doctor when the couple changed flights in Seattle.
dr. Phillips said he wanted to see Olivia in person, citing the bad news, but Matt kept the potential diagnosis a secret from her because it had been a day of heartache.
Olivia’s father, Brinley, was very ill with liver cancer when he died on July 3.
The beloved Aussie icon, who died on Monday at the age of 73, wrote a memoir in 2017, recounting her battle with cancer that began in 1992. Olivia is pictured during a performance in 1992
She had visited him on his sickbed just days before, but had to leave for Los Angeles to attend rehearsals for her world tour.
“I told him I’d be back soon, but I cried and cried all night on that plane home,” Olivia wrote in her book. “In my heart I knew I would never see my father again—and I was right.”
She further revealed in her memoir, Don’t Stop Believing, the moment her daughter Chloe Lattanzi, 36, found out her mother had breast cancer at age six.
On July 3, 1992, Olivia’s husband, Matt Lattanzi, 63, was approached by her doctor when the couple changed flights in Seattle. . Phillips said he wanted to see Olivia in person, citing the bad news, but Matt kept the possible diagnosis a secret because it was already a rough day for her.
The young girl had “lost her best friend Colette to cancer,” so Olivia chose to keep the diagnosis a secret from her at first, despite announcing it publicly.
Sadly, on Chloe’s first day of school in Australia, she heard the devastating news from her peers.
Olivia wrote: ‘When I picked up Chloe after her first day, she was crying.
‘Mommy, mama! One of my friends said you have cancer. Is it true?’ I held her, told her it was true, but I was better now and the cancer was gone.”
She revealed the moment her daughter Chloe Newton-John, 36, (right) learned that her mother had breast cancer at age six from her friends at school. The young girl had ‘lost her best friend Colette to cancer’, so Olivia chose to keep the diagnosis a secret from her at first
The Grease star went on to say that her little girl was crushed by the omission and told her mother, “I would have taken care of you.”
She believed this was the beginning of the “trust issues” Chloe struggled with later in life.
Olivia passed away peacefully Monday morning at her Southern California home surrounded by family and friends.
It came after a brave and extraordinarily public decades-long battle with cancer, during which she was diagnosed three times in 1992, 2013, and, for the last time, in 2017.
Olivia passed away peacefully Monday morning at her Southern California home surrounded by family and friends. (Pictured with husband John Easterling in a throwback photo she posted on Friday, just three days before she died)