Grease star's emotional tribute to Olivia ahead of state memorial
<p>It's been six months since Olivia Newton-John passed away, breaking hearts of entertainment lovers everywhere. </p>
<p>Now, her celebrity friends and family have begun arriving in Melbourne for her state memorial on Sunday, with thousands of fans joining to pay their respects. </p>
<p>Among those sharing fond memories of Australia's sweetheart is Olivia's long-time friend and <em>Grease</em> co-star Didi Conn, who starred as Frenchy alongside Newton-John as Sandy. </p>
<p>In an interview with <em>Today Extra</em>, Didi became emotional while reminiscing on a sweet moment from the set of the hit 1978 musical. </p>
<p>"It's not good when you can't talk, you know, on a talk show," Conn said as she tried to compose herself.</p>
<p>Didi revealed the first scene she filmed with Newton-John, sharing that the Aussie was actually quite nervous, but that was the moment they became great friends.</p>
<p>"We were waiting for them to set up the shot and I just looked at her and she was shaking," she said.</p>
<p>"I said 'Oh, Sandy, I'm so happy to have a friend from Australia, tell me all about Australia' and she looked at me like 'is this in the script?'"</p>
<p>Olivia then cottoned on that Didi was improvising and by the time the cameras started rolling she was much more comfortable thanks to that little bit of help.</p>
<p>"When the scene ended, she hugged me and that was the beginning of our friendship," she said.</p>
<p>The women shared over 40 years of friendship and she revealed one of the last sweet moments she got to share with her.</p>
<p>"I hadn't spoken to her in a couple of months and I called her and she said, 'why haven't we spoken?'," Conn said.</p>
<p>Conn had been unwell recently and Newton-John was in hospital with a broken leg.</p>
<p>"The next day I received this gorgeous orchid plant, it was beautiful with so many buds," she said.</p>
<p>"The day before she left Earth, one of the buds fell down and I thought, oh no, and sure enough, I heard the news."</p>
<p>"But her beauty will last forever, in everyone's heart, because she had the biggest heart, she was the most beautiful person."</p>
<p><em>Image credits: Paramount Pictures / Today Extra</em></p>
