Fans were stunned back in July when the actress Kelly Preston died at the age of 57 following a secret two year battle with breast cancer. Now, Olivia Newton-John is opening up about Preston’s “private journey” with cancer, and revealing how her family is coping with her passing.

“She was a very a beautiful person, inside and out, and was beautiful to look at,” Newton-John told Entertainment Tonight of Preston, who was married to her friend and former Grease costar John Travolta for nearly 29 years. “But she had a gentle spirit and I just feel so, so much for John and the children. It’s hard to put into words.”

Newton-John, who is battling breast cancer herself for the fourth time, added that Preston’s family has been “coping as well as you can imagine.”

“Loss is loss, and to lose your mother and your wife is an incredibly difficult thing, and it takes a long time,” she said. “But ultimately it’s a private journey and I respect that for them.”

Newton-John, 72, went on to say that while she does not talk to Travolta every day, “we are in contact and I send my love and support as often as I can.”

Unlike Preston, Newton-John never had the opportunity to keep her breast cancer diagnosis private after she was first diagnosed in 1992.

“There was going to be an article released in one of the gossip papers that I was dying of cancer,” the actress and singer recalled. “When I heard that, I decided that rather than frighten my family and my friends, it would be better to just come out with it.”

Over the last few decades, Newton-John has been open about her various cancer battles. Earlier this week, she announced the formation of the Olivia Newton-John Foundation.

“I’m so excited. This has been something that’s been in my heart and my mind for many years,” she said of the new organization, which focuses on finding new kinds of cancer treatments and recovery that are gentler on a person’s body.

“Being a cancer thriver of 28 years and having gone through surgery and chemotherapy and radiation I always had this dream that we could find kinder ways of treating cancer,” Newton-John added.

This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com and is used by permission.

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