Olivia Newton-John has revealed that she has been diagnosed with cancer for a third time.
The 69-year-old was speaking on Australia’s Channel Seven when she announced the news, also revealing that she had last been diagnosed with cancer in 2013 after a minor car accident – two decades after she first overcame the disease in 1992.
While she was undergoing a medical evaluation, doctors discovered a lump on her shoulder which they initially believed to be from the strain of the seatbelt. Further investigation revealed that the breast cancer had returned and spread.
Explaining why she did not go public with the second diagnosis at first, the singer and actress said: “I thought ‘It’s my life’ and I just decided to keep it to myself.”
Although she beat the disease for a second time, Newton-John, who shot to fame after a starring role in the musical Grease, said she had been told in 2017 that she had cancer once more, this time at the bottom of her spine. She cancelled an upcoming tour while she completed a short course of photon radiation therapy.
“My husband’s always there, and he’s always there to support me, and I believe I will win over it and that’s my goal,” she said.
Newton-John revealed that she is treating the cancer with “modern” medicines along with natural remedies. She told the programme that she has cut sugar completely from her diet and is using marijuana to help with the physical pain. Her husband, John Easterling, founded the Amazon Herb Company and grows cannabis at their Californian ranch.
“In California, it’s legal to grow a certain amount of plants for your own medicinal purposes,” she said. “I’m very lucky that I live in a state where it’s legal and that I have a husband that is a plant-medicine man.”
Newton-John has long been an advocate for breast cancer screenings in Australia since beating cancer in 1992. She has a cancer centre named after her in Melbourne, Australia: the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness Research Center.
