Australian singer Vanessa Amorosi appeared overcome with emotion and had to bow out of her live interview on Sunrise this morning, having only just learned of the death of Olivia Newton-John.
Amorosi was booked to appear on the program to discuss her new single, having just performed at the closing ceremony of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
But with Newton-John’s death aged 73 after a long cancer battle being the biggest news of the morning, Sunrise hosts Natalie Barr and David Koch were keen to first ask Amorosi about her memories of the star.
“It is an incredibly sad day – Vanessa, what are your memories?” Barr asked as they crossed to the Aussie singer in Birmingham.
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“Uh… I don’t know. I don’t particularly want to think about it, because I’ll get very emotional,” Amorosi began. “I just literally had one of the highest endorphins that just happened out there (at the closing ceremony), to being extremely sad coming offstage and checking my phone. I don’t think I’ve really processed it yet.”
Koch said he’d give Amorosi a chance to “compose” her thoughts about the late music legend, and changed tack to discuss her Commonwealth Games performance and new single.
A few minutes later, and with the interview nearing its end, the hosts moved the topic of conversation back to Olivia Newton-John.
“We know it’s a sad day for you and so many people, but we wanted to show this photo from quite a few years ago of you, Olivia Newton-John and Tina Arena,” Barr said, as a photo of the three Aussie singers at the Sydney 2000 Olympics appeared on screen.
“Can you talk us through those memories, that time, Vanessa?”
Amorosi gave it her best – but soon became overcome with emotion.
“Both of these women I have looked up to since (I was) a kid… I don’t know. I’m actually very sad about Olivia, to be honest. It’s..”
With that, she bowed her head and raised her hand, signaling the interview to stop.
Barr and Koch thanked her for her time – and Barr noted how hard it must’ve been to learn the news between a live performance and a live TV interview.
“I’m horrible. I feel for her, after coming off that.”
It’s been an emotional morning on breakfast television as friends, colleagues and fans of Newton-John have reacted to the news of her death in real time, after it broke at around 5:30am AEST.
Over on Nine, veteran entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins at first held it together as he reported the sad news on Today – but later in the morning, he was overcome with emotion, sobbing as host Karl Stefanovic rushed to comfort him.
And back on Sunriseanother emotional live interview, this time on the streets of Los Angeles with Grease casting director Joel Thurm, who wept openly as he described his fond memories of Newton-John.
The British-born, Melbourne-raised entertainer had waged a decades-long battle against cancer, which returned again in 2013.
In May 2017, she announced her breast cancer had returned and metastasized to her sacrum, and in 2018, it was revealed she was again battling the disease.
In October last year, Newton-John revealed that she was battling Stage 4 breast cancer but was managing the pain with medical marijuana.
Then today came the news fans had been fearing for years: Newton-John had died at her Southern Californian ranch, surrounded by loved ones, including her husband, John Easterling, and daughter, Chloe Lattanzi.
Chloe has today paid tribute to her late mum on social media – who she just days ago referred to as her “best friend.”
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