John Travolta recently opened up about a private conversation he had with son Ben, 10, following the death of wife Kelly Preston in July 2020.
John Travolta, 67, guested on Kevin Hart’s new Peacock talk show, Hart to Heart, this week, and during his sit-down chat with the Ride Along actor, John revealed that following the tragic passing of his wife, Kelly Preston, in July 2020, he was forced to have an emotional conversation about death with his son, Ben, 10.
“He said to me once, ‘Because mom passed away, I’m afraid you’re going to,’” John told Kevin. “I said, ‘Well, it’s a very different thing.’ And I went through the differences about my longevity and her limited life”.
“I said, ‘But you know, Ben… you always love the truth and I’m going to tell you the truth about life. Nobody knows when they’re gonna go or when they’re going to stay. Your brother [Jett] left at 16. Too young. Your mother left at 57. That was too young. But who’s to say? I could die tomorrow. You could. Anybody can. So let’s look at it like it’s part of life. You don’t know exactly. You just do your best at trying to live the longest you can,’” John recalled.
John went on to say that after he told Ben that he feels “eternally 21,” Ben asked him if he can remember things that happened 30 years ago.
“I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Does 30 years ago seem like a long time?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Don’t you think you have 30 more years in your life to live?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I do. I have at least 30 more years.’ He said, ‘What’s wrong with that?’” John said. “This is a 10-year-old telling me that! It changed my viewpoint.”
Kelly, who John was married to since 1991, lost her battle with breast cancer at the age of 57 in July 2020. Along with Ben, John and Kelly share three children together — before Ben was born, Kelly and John welcomed daughter Ella Bleu, 21, and son Jett. Sadly, Jett died at the age of 16 in 2009, when he suffered a seizure after hitting his head on a bathtub.