John Travolta Opens Up About Discussing Death With Son After Kelly Preston Passed Away

Aug 23, 2021 by apost team

John Travolta has been through a lot in the past couple of years. He's starred in some big movies like "Gotti," "Savages," and "From Paris with Love," but he's also suffered tremendous heartbreak in the past two decades. In 2009, the star lost his son Jett in a tragic incident while on vacation in the Bahamas, and the "Pulp Fiction Star" lost his wife, Kelly Preston, to cancer last year.

2020 was a long year for everyone but especially the Travolta family, who lost their matriarch in July following a battle with breast cancer. Since then, John Travolta has made a few public mentions of the family's loss, as has his lookalike daughter Ella Bleu Travolta. 

The Travolta family celebrated their first Christmas without Preston last year. The family has been grieving, but slowly and steadily, they've been showing that they're moving on in life, with Preston's memory firmly in their minds. John Travolta has always been a proud dad, but especially in the last year, John has proven himself to be a true family man who's always there for his two children Ella Bleu Travolta and Benjamin Travolta.

In an interview with Esquire Spain from Apr. 21, 2021, Travolta opened up about how he coped with the loss of his dear wife nearly one year after her passing. In another interview in August 2021, Travolta opened up once again about how he discussed the difficult topic of death with his 10-year-old son Ben with Kevin Hart on his Peacock TV show "Hart to Heart." 

PEOPLE reported that Travolta told Hart that he had a heart-to-heart with Ben one night as the two of them took a walk. During their talk, Ben explained to his father that he was afraid to lose him just like he lost his mother. 

"He said to me once, 'Because mom passed away, I'm afraid you're going to,'" Travolta said. In response, "I said, 'Well, it's a very different thing.' And I went through the differences about my longevity and her limited life," Travolta continued. "I said, 'But you know, Ben … you always love the truth and I'm going to tell you the truth about life. Nobody knows when they're gonna go or when they're going to stay.'"

The "Grease" star added, "Your brother [Jett] left at 16. Too young. Your mother left at 57. That was too young. But who's to say? I could die tomorrow. You could. Anybody can. So let's look at it like it's part of life. You don't know exactly. You just do your best at trying to live the longest you can." 

Travolta met Preston on the set of their 1987 film The Experts. Although Preston was married to someone else at the time, she said in a 2018 interview she "was really with the wrong person" at the time. The couple started spending more time together, and soon enough, Preston and Travolta married in 1991, and over the following years, their children Jett, Ella Bleu, and Benjamin were born. The Travolta family has always been close and endured hardships together. 

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Tragically, however, Jett Travolta passed away in 2009 at the age of 16 due to an unexpected seizure and resulting fall. This, together with Preston's untimely death in 2020, means that the Travolta family is no stranger to tragedy. In light of this, the remaining children and their father have formed a very close bond.

Travolta also revealed to Hart on "Hart to Heart" that he told Ben that he feels "eternally" 21 years old when Ben asked him if he could remember things that happened decades ago. 

"I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Does 30 years ago seem like a long time?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Don't you think you have 30 more years in your life to live?' I said, 'Yeah, I do. I have at least 30 more years.' He said, 'What's wrong with that?'" Travolta explained. "This is a 10-year-old telling me that! It changed my viewpoint."

According to TODAY, Travolta continued, "I realized that it's about viewpoint in life that allows you to settle down about something. There ain’t nothing wrong with 30 years. But yet, before he said that, I was thinking that, ‘Oh this is my last? How sad.'"

However, Travolta knows he will make the best of the time he has left, and wants to pass down his own gifts to his children. His daughter has already taken after him and has been pursuing acting and singing, and Travolta is reportedly prepping Ben to follow suit. 

"I want to leave this world with them doing great, and they already are," Travolta explained. "That's my main thing, is to pay it forward to them." 

What do you think of John Travolta's relationship with his children, especially his son Benjamin? Tell us your thoughts, and be sure to pass this onto your friends as well.