The story behind Lifetime’s original movie premiere, Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You, could have been a movie itself. News of its production was not well received by Newton-John, who declared in an interview she was “horrified” by the news and requested any monetary gain she was to receive be donated to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre. Complicating matters was the casting of her good friend, multi-faceted Australian entertainer Delta Goodrem, in the title role. The two became friends in 2003, when Newton-John offered her support during Goodrem’s own cancer scare, having been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at eighteen. “There were steps as to the way this came to be,” Goodrem (pictured throughout) explained in an exclusive interview with MediaVillage. “At the end of the day I would never have done this without great thought and a conversation with her. Without [Olivia’s] blessing, I would never have done it.
Delta Goodrem on Playing Her Real-Life Friend in Lifetime's Olivia Newton-John Movie
