She may been born to try but Delta Goodrem’s innocent eyes are copping quite a bit of flack following the debut of the first part of the Olivia Newton-John biopic.
The miniseries Olivia: Hopelessly Devoted To You premiered on Channel 7 last night and it didn’t quite take off as well as expected.
The Voice judge stepped into the iconic role of Australian treasure Olivia Newton-John, but fans across social media had A LOT of opinions about the show.
“Olivia must be cringing. So bad,” one person voiced on Twitter.
Another mused, “the paint on my wall dried quicker.”
Stepping up: Delta Goodrem as Olivia Newton-John and George Xanthis as John Travolta.
Some got creative with their taunts.
One fan decided to make it an ONJ special by referencing the singer’s ex Patrick McDermott, who infamously went missing back in 2005.
“Watching this makes me want to fake my own death and disappear to Mexico.”
There was some who defended 33-year-old Delta, pointing blame to the network for their “dodgy” and “cheap” production.
Delta loyalists also confessed, “No one could have done it better,” while another said she was “out of this world.”
For Delta’s part, she decided to skip over the heat and simply share her joy about getting the chance to play the one and only ONJ.
“Playing the role of Olivia was an absolute honour and moment I’ll never forget,” she said.
If you’re watching the show, we’ve got this handy Olivia Newton-John timeline to fact check against Olivia: Hopelessly Devoted To You
As for Olivia, she’s made it clear that she has no desire to ever watch the two-part mini-series.
“When they told me they were doing it, I was horrified,” she told the Australian Women’s Weekly.
Meanwhile, Olivia’s daughter Chloe Lattanzi spoke to Woman’s Day, sharing that their family have been appalled by the show.
“Finding out a TV miniseries is being made about you without your consent, participation or knowledge is bad enough,” Chloe said in the exclusive interview, which you can read in full here.
Want more celebrity goss? Listen to the latest episode of the Woman’s Day Uncensored podcast!
Chloe told Woman’s Day that the show was the last thing her mum ever wanted.
“But poor Mum had to deal with it right in the middle of battling cancer. It made me so angry that additional stress was being put on her at a time when all she really needed to be doing was concentrating all her energy on getting better.”
“What’s upsetting is the way it’s been done. Not one part of it has come directly from our family, it is completely unauthorised. Nobody asked us to take part or consulted us about accuracy.”
“We didn’t want people to see some of the toughest periods we have endured as a family and view them simply as lighthearted TV. We are people with feelings like anyone else, and it’s weird that some of the heaviest and saddest times of our lives have been turned into a fictional TV miniseries for the sole purpose of entertainment.”
Despite the invasion of privacy, Olivia and Chloe have both risen above the anger.
Olivia even recorded two songs with Delta.
“I realised it was going to happen whether I wanted it to or not.”
“I love Delta. I think she’s a really good actress and a great singer so that made it okay, because we’re friends.”
Part 2 airs on Sunday, May 20th on Channel 7!
Want more on Olivia and the mini-series?
– Olivia Newton-John Exclusive: “Why I’ll never watch this awful telemovie!”
– Olivia Newton-John: “When they told me they were doing the TV biopic, I was horrified”
– A Handy Olivia Newton-John timeline to fact check against ‘Olivia: Hopelessly Devoted To You’
