Did Olivia Newton John And John Travolta Date During 'Grease'?

Olivia Newton-John

Watching Grease, the chemistry between the leading actors, Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, is palpable. It oozes through the screens. It makes one wonder: did Danny and Sandy ever date in real life? The short answer? No, they didn’t, but they got close.

In the new biography, A Little More Love: The Life and Legacy of Olivia Newton-John, author Matthew Hild had that conversation with the singer and actress, who admitted that the reason they didn’t date—although they got close—was due to Travolta’s devotion to his religious beliefs as a Scientologist.

“I know the Church of Scientology really reveres [Travolta] as a very valuable follower,” Newton-John said, per an excerpt of the biography published by People. “If I had married John, would he have expected me to become a Scientologist?”

The pair were described as “very, very close” and “almost that close” in the biography. More than 20 years after they filmed the movie together, a musician who had previously been married to a Scientologist joined Newton-John’s band, and the pair started talking.

Said bandmate reportedly told her that it “would not have been mandatory” for her to convert, but it “would have been encouraged.”

She responded by thanking her bandmate and said, “That’s all I want to know.”

Olivia Newton-John depicted Sandy Olsson in the 1978 musical film alongside John Travolta’s bad boy character, Danny Zuko. The Xanadu singer previously touched on the pair not dating during the Grease period in a 2018 interview, at the time saying that they were seeing other people.

However, she explained that she was glad that they didn’t date, as the chemistry of their roles in the film was untouched by outside dramas.

“We were both with other people when we were filming, and I think, respectfully, it just didn’t happen,” she explained in an episode of the No Filter podcast, Page Six notes. “I think it was good, because I think it kept the tension there and the chemistry.

“It might have been a real disaster had we decided to date, or we had a falling out or something,” she added. “So, I think it was just as well that it didn’t happen.”

Newton-John and Travolta remained good friends after Grease and even shared the screen once more in the 1983 film Two of a Kind.

Throughout her career, Newton-John sold over 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists and the highest-selling female Australian recording artist of all time.

In addition to her music and acting, Newton-John’s fanbase grew because of her bubbly, charming personality and advocacy for breast cancer awareness. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in the 1990s and experienced several recurrences throughout her life. Newton-John passed away in 2022 at the age of 73.