John Travolta remembers wife and ‘favourite dance partner’ on what would be her 60th birthday

John Travolta will always make an effort to honour those he’s loved and lost, and this month he’s taken a moment to remember his wife, Kelly Preston, on what would have been her 60th birthday.

The 68-year-old Oscar nominee took to Instagram on October 13 to share a photo of himself and his late wife during the 1997 premiere of Face/Off.

In the shot, the young couple has their arms wrapped around each other, with Preston looking straight at the camera and flashing a bright smile.

 

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“Happy birthday to my favorite dance partner! We love you and miss you Kelly,” Travolta captioned the post.

The couple were married for 28 years before the What a Girl Wants star tragically passed away on July 2020, after losing her two-year-long battle with breast cancer, she was only 57.

According to People, Preston chose to keep her cancer fight private and had been “undergoing medical treatment for some time”.

Many of Travolta’s fans reached out in his comment section to offer their own birthday wishes to Preston and share words of comfort on what is likely a difficult day for the actor.

“Sending so much love & all my thoughts to you today John & family.”

“Happy heavenly Birthday Kelly! comfort to your family here. You and ONJ are missed by many.”

“Kelly and Olivia are watching over you and your family, John.”

Others have chosen to leave a plethora of love heart and angel emojis to show their support.

The last few months have been an especially difficult time for Travolta, having recently lost his good friend and Grease co-star, Olivia Newton-John, also to breast cancer earlier in August.

Newton-John’s passing made her the third woman in Travolta’s life who has succumbed to the disease. Years prior, the actor was left grieving after his former girlfriend, Diana Hyland, also died of breast cancer back in 1977, when she was 41.

Preston isn’t the only member of Travolta’s family who tragically died young. The couple’s son Jett passed away at 16 years old after experiencing a seizure while on a family trip at Grand Bahama Island in 2006.

In April 2021, Travolta spoke to Esquire Spain about his grieving process and his own experiences with mourning.

“The most important thing you can do to help another when they are in mourning is to allow them to live it and not complicate it with yours,” he told the publication.

“Because even though it’s great to have company, sometimes it becomes like you’re helping them, rather than putting yourself to work overcoming feelings of loss and grief.”

Since his wife’s passing, Travolta has remained a widower, choosing to raise his two surviving children Ella, 22, and Benjamin, 11, as a single father. He often shares updates on what their family is up to on his Instagram page.