Lighting up on the Today show recently when asked if she was ‘ready to be a nanna’, the showbiz stalwart couldn’t hide her excitement.
‘Oh, absolutely, I can’t wait!’ the 69-year-old beamed.
Insiders tell New Idea the prospect of daughter Chloe Lattanzi and her partner James Driskell having a baby in the near future has given the singer something to look forward to.
‘Olivia has always been adamant that she would beat this cancer recurrence, and becoming a grandmother is
a huge motivation for her in this fight,’ says a source. ‘She would love to see Chloe settle down with James and start a family.’
Indeed, while recent reports speculated Chloe, 31, had finally tied the knot with James after a 10-year engagement, Olivia says she has her fingers crossed for a 2018 wedding.
‘[James is] still [Chloe’s] fiance, but I think next year they will get married – I hope they will,’ said the Grease star. ‘But if they don’t, that’s fine. Whatever they want. But I think they might do it.’
While Chloe has had her fair share of troubles in the past – battling anorexia and addiction – pals believe a baby would prove to be healing for not only the aspiring actress and singer, but her mum too.
‘Olivia would be such an amazing grandmother,’ reveals a pal. ‘She has so much love to give and a grandchild really could be just what the doctor ordered!’
Despite all of life’s ups and downs, Olivia and Chloe have always remained fiercely close, with the Aussie legend revealing they have a ‘great relationship’.
‘She’s doing a lot of things that she loves to do,’ Olivia told People of her only child. ‘She’s an adult, so I don’t even like to bring up all the old stuff because she’s moving through it. She’s strong.’
And it was having to break the news to Chloe that the breast cancer she’d beaten in the early ’90s had returned and metastasised in her back that tore the superstar up the most.
‘That wasn’t easy,’ Olivia recently revealed on 60 Minutes. ‘But I did deliver it in a positive way, of course.’
Indeed, Chloe appears to have inherited Olivia’s positive spirit, asking her Instagram followers to send ‘healing prayers’ in the wake of her mum’s shock diagnosis.
‘I love u mama. Miss u so much. Will all of u send healing prayers for my mamas back please,’ she wrote. ‘I believe in the power of positive thinking and energy.’
Indeed, Olivia has remained steadfast in her belief that she will once again pull through her cancer battle.
‘I need to get through this. I have lots to do,’ she said. ‘There’s been days I’ve felt unwell and I’ve been in a lot of pain, but I can still laugh. You should always be able to laugh.’
Keeping herself focused on life’s simple pleasures, Olivia says she is taking her recovery one step at a time.
‘There are a couple of [things] that I want to [do]... I want to play tennis again, I want to be able to walk the beach,’ she told Karl Stefanovic on the show. ‘They are simple realistic goals. I’ve achieved everything else. I’m very lucky.’
Of course, becoming a grandma is Olivia’s ultimate dream, and she says she has every intention of living long enough to see that dream become a reality.
‘I’m still the same person... I’m still me,’ she says. ‘It’s probably something I will deal with the rest of my life, but I will and I will be fine and there have been a lot of women who have had reoccurrences and continue on with their lives to be old ladies, and that’s my vision.’
For the full story see this weeks issue of New Idea - out now!
