Such Honesty

Olivia Newton-John’s daughter, Chloe Lattanzi explains how she became a cocaine train wreck.

Olivia Newton-John’s and her daughter Chloe Latanzi

Being the offspring of famed Aussie singer, Olivia Newton-John it seems has been a tad too much for 27 year old Chloe Lattanzi.

In a new account the doomed daughter and only child of Olivia Newton-John and her then husbandMatt Latanzi explains in an exclusive with the UK’s dailymail how starting at the age of 15 she spiraled out of control in a web of depression, anorexia, self medication with cocaine, vodka and anti depressants as she struggled to become the perfect thing she thought she had to be.

While Olivia Newton John, now 65 has managed to retain the aura of a wholesome, squeaky clean girl next door, her daughter, Chloe has had to spend an eternity struggling with her mother’s legacy as she attempted to replicate her mother’s ascent.

Fresh out of rehab, Chloe Latanzi goes on to explain the resentment of being born into money, fame, privilege and how that shit messed with her head.

Tells Latanzi: ‘Fame totally messes you up. I don’t blame my mother for my problems, but I would never want to be famous or raise a child of my own around the cult of celebrity. It ruins lives.

‘If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it is that you can’t be fragile in this business, or else you end up like Lindsay Lohan. 

‘That’s not meant as an insult: I know she – and a lot of celebrities and celebrities’ kids – are struggling with  demons and addictions, just like me, and not all of them are brave enough to address them. It’s disturbing that everyone wants to be famous these days. Our culture is sick.’

Asked whether she blames her mother for not paying enough attention to her self negation Chloe Latanzi tells: ‘I don’t want to say anything to hurt my mother. I think it was very difficult for her. She’d never faced anything like that before and she didn’t know how to deal with it.

‘Eventually she faced up to it and sent me to a treatment centre for my eating disorder when I was 18.

‘It didn’t help at all. Putting people with eating disorders together is the worst thing you can do. It creates competition. I left and slowly got better on my own. But then I replaced one addiction with another.’

Having witnessed her mother divorce her father by the time she was 8 and then get a record deal by the time she was only 15, Chloe Latanzi reminisces how by the time she dropped out of school to pursue her show business career how the lifestyle that came with it caught up with her.

‘I was travelling so much and working all the time,’ she says. ‘Music was what I wanted to do but I didn’t realise at the time that the pressures of being in the public eye were destroying me.’

Goes on to tell the daughter growing up under the shadow of her illustrious mother:

‘I watched Grease for the first time when I was eight and I just remember saying, “Wow, that’s my mum!”,’

‘She was so pretty and I was just in awe of how great she was in that movie. It became obvious to me why everyone loved her so much – as she was so lovely and perfect for the role of the heroine, Sandy.

‘I knew all the lyrics to the songs from Grease and I would sing along to them all the time.

‘I even memorised some of the lines from Sandy’s scenes, which always gave my mum a good laugh.’

But she also recalls having been ‘terrified’ when, aged six, she had attended one of her mother’s concerts and witnessed the adoration of out-of-control fans for the first time.

‘Later, I would become sickened by the phoniness all around,’ she says. ‘I was aware my mother was different and resented people who tried to take advantage of her.

‘Then, when I got my record deal, I felt overwhelmed at being observed all the time.

‘That, combined with a predisposition for depression and anxiety, was a recipe for disaster.

‘Looking back, I think now that I subconsciously sabotaged my record deal because I couldn’t cope with the price of fame.

‘People who didn’t know me had opinions about me and that upset me. I was fragile emotionally.

‘My eating disorder started when I was 15 and carried on until my early 20s. I had anxiety attacks and needed to find a way of feeling in control of something. Food was the one thing I could be in control of.’

By the time she was 22 after having moved in with friends into an apartment in Los Angeles the young performer was capitulating and how.

Tells Chloe: ‘I never developed any tools for coping with my emotions. The only way I knew how to deal with emotional stress was through self-harm. That’s why I started doing drugs and drinking.

‘The first time I tried cocaine I felt such relief. It took my anxiety away.

‘I got to the stage where the first thing I did each morning was to do cocaine. I was drinking and partying and going crazy.’

By now spending north of $100 a day on the good stuff and downing a bottle of vodka daily to self medicate Chloe Latanzi was on a committed downward spiral as she continued to disassociate herself with reality.

With her mother living in Florida and her father a dancer away, both parents had no idea what their daughter was going through. Although one wonders if the either parent had an inkling something was amiss or whether Chloe attempted to reach out and was rebuffe

Things eventually descended to the point Chloe was also now using Xanax, a prescription sedative, to her addictions: ‘I was so out of it during that time that I don’t even remember waking up most mornings,’ 

‘I had blackouts. I would stay up on three-day-long binges without ever going to sleep. Days and weeks started to blend together.’ 

And then things finally fell apart last September of last year. Tells Chloe:

‘I was at a hotel in Santa Monica with my mum and some friends and, out of nowhere, I had a complete meltdown. I’d been mixing alcohol and Xanax and was in a semi-psychotic state.

‘I was crying hysterically, freaking out and acting crazy.

‘I have no doubt my mum and dad could sense something was going on but they had no idea of the extent of my addictions. 

‘Later, being drunk and high became so routine that I would be high in front of my mum – and I don’t think she even noticed because it was such a normal state for me to be in.

‘I would be out partying every night at different Hollywood clubs, running into other young celebrities like Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, and just partying the night away. 

‘After a year of bottled-up pain, I just released my demons and one day told my mum everything I was going through. For hours I just cried in Mum’s arms and told her over and over, “I can’t take this any more. I can’t stand living in this pain.” I told her how out of control my drug and alcohol addictions had become.

‘She stayed up with me all night reassuring me and saying, “Don’t worry, baby, we’re gonna get through this together. I believe in you, Chloe. You’re a strong, beautiful person and you are going to get through this,” and she was right. 

‘Despite how painful the circumstances were, I felt so lucky to have someone like my mum with me to lean on and cry with.

‘The next morning, she put me in the car and drove me to rehab. On the ride over I was shaking and sobbing, but Mum held my hand, put on a brave face and assured me everything was going to be all right. She said that she was proud of me and at that time that’s really all I needed to hear.

‘I felt incredibly scared and nervous about making the commitment to go through rehab. But finally I got the right treatment. I was there for seven months. I still battle with anxiety but I’m on medication and it’s so much better.

‘Now I can function. The reason I am talking about this is that depression is so isolating. You feel so alone. If I can help just one person by telling my story, it’s a good thing.

‘I feel empathy for other girls like Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie – who have had to publicly battle their addictions with drugs and alcohol in the spotlight. But, thankfully, like them, I’m finally addressing my issues and getting help.’

The dailymail goes on to reassure us (can we really wonder?) that Chloe Latanzi is now doing well in her recovery, and is well on the way to recovery, although one wonders if the demons will ever go away or resurface at any moment.

We also learn these days, Chloe Latanzi is engaged to martial arts instructor James Driskill and says of her mother: ‘My relationship with Mum is in a great place. She’s fantastic.’