Olivia Newton-John revealed exactly what she wanted to happen after her death in an interview filmed before she passed away.
In a never-before-seen interview which aired during Seven special Spotlight: Olivia – A Magical Life on Sunday night, the Australian entertainment icon explained that she wanted some of her ashes scattered in Byron Bay, some at her property in California and “in other places I love”.
The ashes of Newton-John’s late mother and sister were also scattered in the popular coastal northern NSW town, where the actress owned a property until last year.
“I don’t think I’ve really thought about it that deeply. We all should,” Newton-John said in the previously unknown footage.
“But I’d like to be with them, I’d like to be with them… that would be nice.”
Newton-John, whose starring role in grease in 1978 made her world famous, died at her ranch in California last week following a long battle with breast cancer.
She was first diagnosed with the disease in 1992, but it went into remission before it reappeared in 2013 and then again in 2017.
The Seven special also featured tributes from some of her oldest and closest friends, including Sir Cliff Richard and Bee Gees legend Barry Gibb, who described her as “a diamond”.
“And in this world there’s only a few diamonds,” he said.
“There were all these wonderful female artists and then there was Olivia Newton-John.”
Newton-John’s heartbroken family have accepted the offer of a state funeral from Victoria’s state government, with Premier Daniel Andrews confirming the news last Thursday.
“This will be much more of a concert than a funeral, I think it will be a celebration of such a rich and generous life,” he said.
“Olivia Newton-John was a very special person and to take her cancer journey and to turn that into more research, better treatment, better care and this focus on wellness, is such an amazing legacy and that’s why I think we all feel the pain of her passing.”
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