‘I miss her every day'

For more than two decades, Olivia has been mourning the loss of her goddaughter

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She cemented herself as one of the world’s most celebrated stars, thanks to her powerful voice and leading roles in beloved films like Grease, but these days it’s Olivia Newton-John’s brave fighting spirit that she’s most admired for.

Olivia, 71, has remained positive and optimistic about her almost three-decade-long cancer battle, but she’s no stranger to heartache. Behind the scenes, she’s bravely harboured a 28-year family secret that changed the course of her life.

In 1991 Olivia, then married to her Xanadu co-star Matt Lattanzi, suffered the loss of her beloved five-year-old goddaughter Colette Chuda from cancer. The daughter of one of Olivia’s closest friends Nancy Chuda, the little girl passed away from Wilms tumour, a rare form of kidney cancer, leaving both families devastated.