Hard times for Grease star Olivia Newton - John

US: Playing John Travolta's high school heart-throb in Grease, she seemed like she hadn't a care in the world. But in real life, Olivia Newton-John's life has not been all sunshine. The actress has revealed she needed antidepressants and therapy to help her though the most difficult periods of her life.

And she said her daughter has had hardships of her own, struggling to live up to her mother's fame and suffering from anorexia

Miss Newton-John, 64, is married to businessman John Easterling.

In 2005, she took anti-depressants for three months after her partner of nine-years Patrick McDermott vanished on a fishing trip off the Californian coast. He never returned and was presumed drowned. She told The Times: 'Of course I still think about him. It was a difficult time and got me out of a hole.

'I took them until I could see the light again and never did them again. I didn't want to become dependent on them. That's why I stopped.'

Miss Newton-John was born in England but moved to Australia as a child. Next month, she will return to the UK for her first concert tour on these shores since 1978.

In 1992, she cancelled a comeback tour after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She has one daughter, Chloe, 27, with her former husband Matt Lattanzi, who she divorced in 1995.

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