Jane Seymour is opening up about losing one of her dearest friends, iconic singer and actress Olivia Newton-John.
Olivia died peacefully at her home in August 2022 after a lengthy battle with cancer. As the world learned of her death and mourned, perhaps no one grieved more deeply than one of her oldest friends, Jane Seymour.
Jane opened up to Today about their decades-long friendship and what was said during their final meeting.
Jane revealed that the friendship she had with Olivia was really like no other. “We had a lot of ups and downs with careers and husbands and children and life," Jane revealed. "We had a very special bond and it was pretty unique for me."
“I don’t think I ever had a friend that really could understand or wanted to understand what that life was like. And I really miss her," she said of the massive loss.
The Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman star also shared that she saw her friend just before her death when she paid a visit to her home. Olivia, who wasn't doing well, had gotten the days mixed up but still welcomed Jane and her sisters with open arms, knowing they had traveled for a few hours to see her.
“And she got out of bed, got dressed, came out on a walker — I mean, she really should not have gotten out of bed at all — and she just sat down with us for quite a while and asked us: How are we? How was our lives? How could she help us?”
She shared how, even in her failing health, Olivia was absolutely filled with gratitude for her life.
"She just looked around and said, 'Isn’t it beautiful here?'" Jane recounted. "'I just sit out here and I just look at the world. I mean, how beautiful? I look at the sky, listen to the hummingbirds, I look at that dog. Look at this life that we have. And us together after all these years.'"
Jane revealed that Olivia had been very ill for a long time, but she never fell into selfishness or despair.
“What brings tears to my eyes is that she always cared about other people,” she said. “She always asked about me, asked about my family, about people I knew or we mutually knew who were going through cancer. She was just this positive light and amazing, amazing person.”
The actress feels incredibly grateful to have had such a long-lasting friendship with the Grease star, who she says taught her that “life is a journey.”
“She just had such strength and fortitude,” Jane said. “As much as she was suffering, she never spoke about it, ever. She just put a smile on her face and said, ‘I’m thriving. I’m thriving.’”
