Grease star's emotional tribute to Olivia ahead of state memorial
It's been six months since Olivia Newton-John passed away, breaking hearts of entertainment lovers everywhere.
Now, her celebrity friends and family have begun arriving in Melbourne for her state memorial on Sunday, with thousands of fans joining to pay their respects.
Among those sharing fond memories of Australia's sweetheart is Olivia's long-time friend and Grease co-star Didi Conn, who starred as Frenchy alongside Newton-John as Sandy.
In an interview with Today Extra, Didi became emotional while reminiscing on a sweet moment from the set of the hit 1978 musical.
"It's not good when you can't talk, you know, on a talk show," Conn said as she tried to compose herself.
Didi revealed the first scene she filmed with Newton-John, sharing that the Aussie was actually quite nervous, but that was the moment they became great friends.
"We were waiting for them to set up the shot and I just looked at her and she was shaking," she said.
"I said 'Oh, Sandy, I'm so happy to have a friend from Australia, tell me all about Australia' and she looked at me like 'is this in the script?'"
Olivia then cottoned on that Didi was improvising and by the time the cameras started rolling she was much more comfortable thanks to that little bit of help.
"When the scene ended, she hugged me and that was the beginning of our friendship," she said.
The women shared over 40 years of friendship and she revealed one of the last sweet moments she got to share with her.
"I hadn't spoken to her in a couple of months and I called her and she said, 'why haven't we spoken?'," Conn said.
Conn had been unwell recently and Newton-John was in hospital with a broken leg.
"The next day I received this gorgeous orchid plant, it was beautiful with so many buds," she said.
"The day before she left Earth, one of the buds fell down and I thought, oh no, and sure enough, I heard the news."
"But her beauty will last forever, in everyone's heart, because she had the biggest heart, she was the most beautiful person."
Image credits: Paramount Pictures / Today Extra