'Growing up I was under immense pressure': Olivia Newton-John's daughter reveals drug addictions

Olivia Newton-John's daughter has candidly spoken about the pressures of growing up with a famous mother, and how she believes it prompted her rapid descent into drug and alcohol abuse.

Chloe Lattanzi has spent the last seven months battling her addictions in a sober house in Los Angeles. In an interview with Australia's Woman's Day, the 27-year-old discussed the "immense pressure" that came with being the daughter of a Hollywood star.
 

"Growing up I was under immense pressure being the daughter of such a famous woman," she said.

"You don't have a normal childhood and you don't have that space to make mistakes and find your feet, as everyone is watching you.

"I started to get into the party scene, drinking every night, and then before long I got introduced to cocaine, and all of a sudden the combination of those things took away all the fear and depression, and that is when the cycle began."

Olivia Newton-John pictured with her daughter Chloe

Such was the extent of Chloe's addiction, that in 2011 she had to postpone her planned wedding to jit-jitsu instructor James Driskill as she unsuccesfully attempted to get clean.

But last September she broke down and confided "a year of bottled up pain" to her mother, who enlisted the help of Celebrity Rehab's Dr Drew Pinsky.

She checked into a Californian rehab clinic where she stayed for seven months, having five hours of therapy a day. Now clean she is preparing to star in a film next year and is hoping to tie the knot.

"I honestly felt that for the first time in my life there was hope," she said of that intervention. "I am really proud of how far I've come and so are all my family and James."
 

In 2008, Chloe appeared on the MTV reality show Rock the Cradle, finishing in third place

Chloe is Olivia's only child. The Grease star, who is now married to John Easterling, welcomed her daughter in January 1986 with her first husband, actor Matt Lattanzi.

In 2007, Chloe bravely decided to go public with battle with anorexia — and her mother spoke of her fears.

"You don't want to think anything could be wrong — that's not to say I wasn't frightened, nervous and anxious for her," she said. "There was a time when I was in denial about it, I have to admit that."

Asked what advice she would give other mothers in her situation, she told Woman's Day, "That the parent need look at why their child has developed such a detrimental disease. And look at the issues causing the disorder.

"Listen to your child. Be supportive. Eating disorders are usually nothing to do with food. Parents need to be with their child to see them through it. All the therapists in the world can’t help if the parents aren't present, loving and proactive."