John Travolta opens up about his journey with grief after losing wife Kelly Preston

John Travolta is ready to talk about losing the love of his life, Kelly Preston.  Preston, Travolta’s wife of 28 years, lost her battle with breast cancer in July 2020.

The 67-year-old actor spoke to Esquire Spain about his wife’s passing and opened up about his experience with grief.

“I learned that crying and mourning over someone is something personal,” said Travolta. “Mourning is individual and experiencing your own journey is what can lead to healing.”

The Grease star also shared some advice to those who want to help a friend or a loved one deal with loss, adding, “The most important thing you can do to help another when they are in mourning is allow them to live it and not complicate it with yours.”

“Let’s say you lose someone and at the funeral you are very sad, then another person approaches you who is feeling more sadder and doesn’t leave enough space for you to mourn,” he reflected. “It would be like two boats plummeting to the bottom. That is my experience.”

Travolta explained that, while countless people reached out to him to share their grief, he admitted, “I felt saturated with everyone’s sadness that I didn’t know what to do.”

Because of what he experienced, the actor advised, “The first thing you should do when you experience grief is to go to a place where you can mourn, without any interference.”

Travolta and Preston shared three children together: Ella, 20, Benjamin, nine, and Jett, who died at age 16 in 2009.

The actor says he is now focused on “ensuring the future of my children,” by fostering Ella’s acting aspirations by “teaching her to work in the profession” and by helping Ben “evolve.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.