EXTRAITS

 

Delta The view from the top

• Australian Women’s Weekly NZ
• 23 Feb 2023

“Now, my other love at this time was Grease. And then I spotted Olivia Newton-John. I remember saying,

‘Oh my God, that’s Sandy coming in!’ Anyway, Olivia heard me, heard our Australian accents and walked over and said, ‘Are you from Australia? How long are you here?’ We said yes, we are and had a quick chat. She asked where we had been and I told her I’d been to Phantom of the Opera. She said, ‘Well, I hope I see you around tomorrow.’

“The next day I kept looking for her and my parents were like, ‘Delta, you’re not going to see Sandy today, you’re not going to see Olivia.’ I was like, ‘We’ll see about that, I’ll find her in the future!’

“I’ve always thought of that moment when I see young ones at a table. It’s my responsibility to walk over there. Olivia was an incredible teacher like that. The kindness she showed me that day had a profound impact on how I would treat people

“The kindness Olivia showed me had a profound impact.”

that I met later in my life – by her example.”

The first meeting may have been pure chance but the threads that would draw the two women together later in life would cement an incredible relationship.

“Olivia told me that one day – not now but one day – you’ll see [your cancer diagnosis] as a gift, to be a pillar of strength for other people,” Delta says. “I was forever grateful and forever loyal for the love she’d shown me. She’d been there. She understood the fear. She was an example to me of how, once I got through my own health journey, I’d commit to being that way for others, too.”

Olivia had been diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time in 1992 and would go on to start the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre to support others going through the fight. And, after years of privately helping those in the thick of the battle, in 2020 Delta followed in her idol’s footsteps, partnering with the three doctors who had been instrumental in her treatment to launch a not-for-profit charity. Today, the Delta Goodrem Foundation aims to advance vital research for blood cancers, such as the one she herself overcame.

“It’s a beautiful thing that I’m very proud to have partnered with, privately and publicly,” she says of the timing.

As we speak, she’s still struggling with the grief of losing her friend, Olivia, who finally lost her cancer battle on August 8, 2022.

For someone who makes a living expressing themselves through lyrics and song, finding the words to describe how she is feeling isn’t coming easily. She stops and starts as tears threaten, her voice growing raspy as she struggles to express her sentiment.

“I don’t have the words yet,” she eventually says. “I’d love to be more eloquent for you. I find it really hard to talk about because I was very lucky to have such a special bond, a real kindred. We were always there for each other in a beautiful mentorship and friend way.” And so we leave the topic for now and agree to speak again in a month or two, when she’s had more time to process and think about what she really wants to say.

We catch up again two days after Delta’s moving tribute to Olivia at the G’Day USA gala in LA, which she attended along with Olivia’s husband, John Easterling, her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi and many of Olivia’s inner circle. That week she’d also visited John at the home he’d shared with Olivia.

They’d spent time reminiscing and honouring the woman they adored.

“It was obviously a very emotional night but I loved seeing everyone sing along for Olivia and honour her,” she says now. “Everyone grieves differently and what I’m learning is that it’s about holding space for someone else’s process. Holding space, just being there, knowing you are there for somebody. No matter what, this is a lifelong friendship of being part of a support system when you have so much love for someone.

“She gave us all so much joy. She touched people around the world.

She stood for good values – kindness, integrity, love for people. She had such generosity of spirit. You felt like she was there for everyone.

“This has been a new experience of heartbreak. But then you have to walk through it. This week was a big, important part for me.”