Page 14 - Woman's Weekly - New Zealand (January 2020)

CELEB UPDATE
YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE SHE IS
MAGIC: ARISE, DAME OLIVIA
er shelves are full of
awards, but Olivia
HNewton-John’s latest
accolade has extra significance.
The Grease star received a
damehood in the British New
Year Honours, and says she’s
delighted with the recognition.
“I am extremely excited,
honoured and grateful beyond
words to be included with
such an esteemed group of
women who have received
this distinguished award before
me,” says Dame Olivia (71),
who thanked the Queen “for
graciously approving me as
Dame Commander of the
Order of the British Empire”.
“As a girl born in Cambridge,
I am very proud of my British
ancestry and so appreciative
to be recognised in this way
by the United Kingdom.”
Olivia, a granddaughter
OLIVIA’S of German Nobel Prize-
winning physicist Max
Born, moved to Australia
when she was six after
HONOUR her father Wilfred,
a former MI5
officer, became
a professor of
German at the
University of
She’s the dame Melbourne.
As a teen,
she won a
that we want! TV talent
quest,
with a
14 New Zealand Woman’s Weekly
trip to England as the prize.
She launched her career there,
finding success in the early
1970s with songs such as Banks
of the Ohio, Let Me Be There
and I Honestly Love You, but
it was playing Sandy opposite
John Travolta in 1978’s Grease
that catapulted her to
superstardom. She quickly
capitalised with back-to-back
hits Magic, Xanadu and
Physical, and also starred
in the Xanadu movie.
She was honoured not just
for services to the entertainment
industry, but also for her tireless
work as a cancer campaigner.
After developing breast cancer
in 1992, she set up the Olivia
Newton-John Cancer Wellness
and Research Centre in
Melbourne and has raised
millions of dollars for research
and awareness.
for many years but in 2013, after
She was clear of the disease
a car accident, doctors found
cancer in her shoulder. In 2017,
the singer revealed the cancer
had again returned, this time in
her spine, and was stage four.
In an interview last year,
know what her life expectancy
Olivia said she didn’t want to
was. “When you’re given a
cancer diagnosis or a scary
illness diagnosis, you are
suddenly given a possibility
of a time limit. If you believe
the statistics, you’re going to
make them happen.”
She added, “I’m so lucky
that I’ve been through this
three times and I’m still here.
Every day is a gift now.” #
Judy Kean
“I’m still here!”
Cancer sufferer
Olivia refuses
to discuss her
life expectancy.