Grease star Didi Conn says Olivia Newton-John is “laying a little low” but “doing great”.
Australian actress Newton-John, 70, recently dismissed speculation over her health and told fans “rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated”.
Conn, 67, famous for her role as pink-haired Frenchy in Grease, said of her former co-star: “She is well. She’s doing great.
Following false reports on Olivia Newton John’s health, her friend of 40 years and Grease co-star Didi Conn confirms: ‘She is well, she’s doing great.’#Lorraine pic.twitter.com/ihE7rbsLM1
— Lorraine (@lorraine) January 3, 2019
“She’s laying a little low. But… she’s full of life,” she told ITV show Lorraine.
“When she signs her letters it’s always, ‘With love and light’, and when she performs she reaches out. The last song she always sings is I Honestly Love You to her fans and she really does.”
Conn, who is preparing to compete in the new series of Dancing On Ice, said: “She’s well. When she took some time off she said: ‘I’m going to be back in six months.’ It wasn’t even six months. It was four-and-a-half months.”
Newton-John, best-known for starring as high school student Sandy Olsson alongside John Travolta in the 1978 film Grease, revealed in September she had been diagnosed with cancer for the third time in three decades.
Last month reports emerged in the US speculating about Newton-John’s health, but the star moved to assure fans she is “doing great”.
In a video released on Twitter, she said: “Happy New Year everyone, this is Olivia Newton-John and I just want to say that the rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated, to quote a very famous quote.
“And I am doing great and want to wish all of you the happiest, healthiest 2019 as possible and thank you all for your wonderful love and support for me and for my Olivia Newton-John cancer wellness centre in Melbourne, Australia.
“Thank you so much, Happy New Year.”
Happy New Year! Here’s to a wonderful 2019! Love & light, Olivia pic.twitter.com/1Nd2jIcRb1
— Olivia Newton-John (@olivianj) January 3, 2019
In September 2018, Newton-John told the Australian news programme Sunday Night that doctors found a tumour in her lower back in 2017.
The singer said she was treating the illness “naturally” and was using cannabis oil made from marijuana her husband grows in California to alleviate the pain.
She also underwent radiation treatment and cut sugar from her diet in a bid to overcome the cancer. Newton-John said: “I believe I will win over it.”
Newton-John also said she hoped Australia would legalise medical marijuana. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, undergoing a partial mastectomy and reconstruction.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer again in 2013. Newton-John was born in Cambridge, England, before moving to Australia when she was five.