Olivia Newton-John: Grease legend, 69, diagnosed with cancer for third time
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Olivia Newton-John: Grease legend, 69, diagnosed with cancer for third time

GREASE icon Olivia Newton-John has been diagnosed with cancer for the third time in three decades.

The Australian actress, 69, said she was treating the cancer with both modern medicines and natural remedies after being told she had cancer at the base of her spine last year.

The shock diagnosis comes five years after Newton-John overcame cancer for the second time in 2013 and over two decades since her first battle with the illness in 1992.

Speaking on Australian TV's Sunday Night programme, the singer-songwriter said she was using homegrown cannabis as part of her treatment to fight the disease.

"My husband's always there, and he's always there to support me, and I believe I will win over it and that's my goal," she told the Seven Network show.

Newton-John shot to fame alongside John Travolta in the iconic 1978 musical (Image: IMdB)

"I'm very lucky I live in a (US) state where (cannabis) is legal ... my dream is that in Australia soon it will be available to all the cancer patients and people going through cancer or any kind of disease that causes pain."

Newton-John, who turns 70 later this month, was catapulted to fame in 1978 when she starred opposite John Travolta as Sandy in the hit high school musical Grease.

She has also found success as a recording artist with multiple number one singles and has toured internationally, most recently in the United States on the back of her 2017 album Live On.

The English-born entertainer has become a fierce advocate for breast cancer screening in the 26 years since her first diagnosis.

During an interview on US television in 2017, Newton-John said she was grateful to still be able to sing and perform after so many years and thanked her fans.

"I love to sing, it's all I know how to do," she told CNN.

"That's all I've ever done since I was 15, so it's my life."