It all began with a dance when Kelly Preston screen tested for the 1988 film The Experts, which had Hollywood heartthrob John Travolta slated for the leading role.
Preston was married at the time to actor and Space Camp costar Kevin Gage, but confessed in a 2018 Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen appearance that it was “kinda” love at first sight for her and Travolta.
“Well, I was not that happily married, let’s put it that way,” Preston said at the time.
“I was really with the wrong person.”
She divorced Gage in 1987, the very same year she met Travolta, and just a few years later she and the Grease star were dancing again, this time at their 1991 wedding in Paris, France.
They’d originally made wedding plans in New York City but those became unmanageable, so they eloped in the city of love’s Hotel de Crillon on September 5.
Travolta and Preston later had to make it official with a second ceremony in the US on September 12, after learning there were residency requirements to marry in France.
During an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan years later, co-host Kelly Ripa noted that she would often see Preston and Travolta dancing together.
It was a theme which came up often – not surprising given Travolta was known for his moves in films like the one which made him a megastar, 1977’s Saturday Night Fever.
Preston noted dancing with him – as well as Travolta’s lips, laughing and having fun – as some of the best things about being married to him during her Watch What Happens Live appearance.
They welcomed eldest son Jett in 1992, followed by daughter Ella Bleu in 2000, and family life was sacred to the new parents, who tried to keep their kids out of the spotlight.
Tragically, Jett’s name was in the headlines in 2009 when he suffered a seizure and died during a family vacationed in the Bahamas.
“The church never left our sides for two years” Travolta told Us Weekly about the tragedy.
“I don’t know if I would have made it through without their support.”
Travolta and Preston mourned for their beloved son, as did his sister Ella, but the family experienced new joy the following year when son Benjamin was born.
Preston, then 48, told Today in 2011 it had taken her three years to conceive Benjamin.
“I didn’t [consider the risks]. I just considered that it was difficult,” she confessed.
“I never thought that would be me at all. I think we’re just really happy that we’re so fortunate.”
The stars revelled in being parents and in that same interview Preston said having her second son had been “wonderfully healing” following the death of Jett.
She and Travolta were other’s biggest cheerleaders for decades, walking the red carpet together over the years in support of each others projects.
On the red carpet for the 2018 film Gotti, which they co-starred in (Travolta playing famed mobster John Gotti and Preston as his wife, Victoria Gotti), Travolta shared the secret to keeping their romance alive with Us Weekly.
“We’re so busy with the kids and our careers and being pro-active in our church,” he said, referring to the Church of Scientology. “Every day is date night.”
Preston told the outlet, “I think that we were just right together, that we picked the right people and keeping it honest and communicating and checking in with each other.
“A relationship doesn’t just happen,” she said. “You have to work at it. You’ve got to keep it fun and that’s what we do.”
In Travolta, Preston found her person and the pair were married for almost 30 years when tragedy struck and she died on July 12, 2020, two years after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Kelly Preston’s life in pictures
“She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many. Kelly’s love and life will always be remembered,” Travolta wrote on social media at the time.
A family representative told People that Preston had been keeping her cancer battle “private” and was supported by her closest family and friends.
“She was a bright, beautiful and loving soul who cared deeply about others and who brought life to everything she touched,” the rep said.
Her last post on Instagram was a tribute to Travolta on Father’s Day.
“Happy Father’s Day to the best one I know, we love you,” Preston wrote alongside a photo of the couple with Ella and Benjamin, and a photo of Travolta with Jett.
Travolta and their children have kept Preston’s memory alive in the four years since, posting regular tributes for milestones like anniversaries, birthdays and Mother’s Day each year.
