Kelly Preston

Kelly Preston: Things I wish I’d known at 18
ACTRESS Kelly Preston, married for 20 years to John Travolta, has dealt with both tragedy and joy in recent times.

Her son Jett died of a seizure nearly two years ago aged 16. But she gave birth to Benjamin in November 2010 when she was 48.

They also have 11-year-old daughter Ella Bleu.

In her early twenties, Kelly was briefly married to actor Kevin Cage, lived with George Clooney and was engaged to Hollywood bad boy Charlie Sheen.

She has successfully launched the Jett Travolta Foundation to help children with special needs.

Here, Kelly, 49, tells GARTH PEARCE about what she wishes she knew aged 18.

AT 18 I wish I had known the dangers of smoking pot. There was a fallacy in Hawaii, where I grew up, that it was not addictive.

It was supposed to be natural so I did it along with all my friends. I now don't drink, don't smoke and don't do drugs.

I have done all of that in the past but now live a clean and healthy life. It is not possible to know the answers at 18 so you go with what most people believe. I have already started educating my own children about the dangers of drugs. They are addictive.

We are giving our kids the space to discover who they are, but life can't be enjoyed in a drugs culture.

I have learned to appreciate that personal health and enjoyment of life go hand in hand.

I also wish I had learned how much you had to work at a marriage before I married for the first time. I married too young. But, with Johnny, and the benefit of being older, I was able to work out what helps keep a marriage happy.

Don't go to bed angry and talk out your issues. The things to remember are honesty, playfulness, humour and being creative. Some people think marriage is not real unless it is natural and say: "I shouldn't have to work at it."

I disagree. I would not have thought it possible, at 18, that friendship could turn, slowly, into love. But it did.

I was with another partner when we first met in 1987 on a film called The Experts and we were friends during filming. But we stayed friends and met up again a couple of years later, when we were working on separate films. I was single again and he asked, over dinner, if we could start going out. He said he thought I would make a great girlfriend simply because of the way I treated my partner at the time.

I said: "Definitely — that is a great idea." It became love very quickly. We also decided, very early on, we wanted to have a family. I got pregnant on my very first try.

We were at the country house of our friends, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. The date was June 15, 1991.

When I was 18, if I'd have thought I would have met someone like Johnny, I would have not believed my good fortune. At home, he's exactly as he appears to others — relaxed and very caring. One of his greatest attributes is a wonderful sense of humor. He is the greatest romantic. For our engagement, he flew a group of us to Gstaad in Switzerland, picked up a ring which had been specially made and proposed where we were staying.

It was a complete shock, because I was not expecting it. It is easier to be surprised at 18, because you have such little experience, but always more difficult in later life.

What is so fantastic is that my husband loves to fly, so everything about airlines, jets and flying is his true passion. He has been a pilot for more than 30 years.

He has his wings for Qantas of Australia, which is the hardest school to get through. It is a career in itself. He also looks so handsome in his uniform.

Life is never dull. It is unpredictable, but always exciting. He even sings to the kids — a lot of Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand. Johnny would probably say my worst fault is learning how to put things in the right priority. I used to try and involve myself in everything and spread myself too thin. His own fault? He spoils our children with not enough discipline.

I had a wonderful relationship with my own parents. My father died when I was three. But the man I know to be my father, Peter, was an amazing dad.

I am completely fine with the ageing process. I am happy and it feels much less dramatic. As the cliché says, 50 is the new 40.

I would never think of plastic surgery. People change themselves so dramatically in Hollywood — they come to an event no longer looking like themselves.

I had that view at 18 and I have seen nothing to change it.

LINK

playfuldeb wrote:She was briefly engaged to Charlie Sheen in 1990, but ended the relationship shortly after he accidentally shot her in the arm.

Lakin460 wrote:Ok, call me slow. Charlie Sheen shot her in the arm with a gun or a needle?

Personal life

Preston married actor Kevin Gage in 1985 until their divorce in 1987. She also had a relationship with George Clooney,[1] who gave her Max, a pet pig that he kept after the couple split up.[14] She was briefly engaged to Charlie Sheen in 1990,[1][15] but ended the relationship shortly after he accidentally shot her in the arm.[15][16]

Sheen’s personal fortunes have been just as eventful as his movie career, and he is no stranger to tabloid controversy. He is well known for his love of guns and shooting. In 1990, he accidentally shot his then fiancee Kelly Preston in the arm. She promptly broke off the engagement, and subsequently married fellow actor John Travolta.

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Kelly Preston's intense love affair with George Clooney before John Travolta stole her heart
Kelly Preston has lost her two year battle against breast cancer aged just 57 as her husband, John Travolta paid tribute to his wife

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For two years Kelly Preston bravely fought her battle with breast cancer out of the public eye with only those closest to her aware she was ill.
The 57-year-old star of Jerry Maguire and twins died on Sunday and her husband of almost 30 years, John Travolta, paid a heartbreaking tribute to his wife.

He said: "It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer. She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many.
"My family and I will forever be grateful to her doctors and nurses at MD Anderson Cancer Center, all the medical centers that have helped, as well as her many friends and loved ones who have been by her side.
"Kelly’s love and life will always be remembered. I will be taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so forgive me in advance if you don’t hear from us for a while.


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Kelly with her husband, John Travolta, chatting to George Clooney[/size]

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The couple had one of the strongest marriages in Hollywood and shared three children.
They were left devastated when their eldest son, Jett, died while on a family holiday in The Bahamas.
But before she met Grease star John, Kelly dated some of the most eligible men in Hollywood - including a very young George Clooney.


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The couple lived together following the break down of her first marriage
They met while both represented by the same agent after Kelly's first marriage to Kevin Gage broke down.
George was starring in the sitcom, Roseanne, while Kelly had made her name in hit films like Twins and Space Camp.
Their agent invited both stars to the same party and when George gave Kelly a lift on his Harley Davidson motorbike, she said she was "hooked".
The couple soon moved in together and shared a very unusual pet - a pot-bellied pig George had bought for Kelly as a present.
However, it was almost a give that could have gone very wrong.
At the time Kelly explained: "The only thing was, Max was scared of me at first. I think it was because he was castrated by the woman who owned him."

But George had a - very bizarre - way of making the pet pig bond with its new owner.
He explained: "Max wouldn’t get near her, so I put food in Kelly’s bra. He’ll do anything for food."
The couple were very much in love with George declaring "the most important thing in my life is my relationship with Kelly".

Sadly, despite their adorable gifts, the relationship didn't last - Kelly went on to a short engagement to Charlie Sheen before falling for John, while George is now happily married to Amal Clooney.