The Saddest Details About Ella Bleu Travolta

When Ella Bleu Travolta was born, her parents were reportedly so worried about her well-being that they decided to attempt a "silent birth," which entails keeping the delivery room as quiet as possible. It's a method that's popular with Scientologists such as Ella's mother and father, "Saturday Night Fever" star John Travolta and "Jerry Maguire" actor Kelly Preston.

Scientology practitioners believe that the noises and words newborns hear when they're first exposed to the outside world can cause them lifelong trauma. However, in an interview with Redbook (via the Chicago Tribune), Preston admitted that she had to speak up when her labor pain became unbearable. "Throw me in the car! I want an epidural!" she remembered exclaiming. 

Ella's parents didn't throw in the towel right then and there just because her birth didn't go exactly as planned. Instead, they became the proudest, most supportive parents they could be. "When I have any questions, my mom and dad have the best advice, and that's amazing," Ella told People in 2019. And when Ella wanted to follow in her parents' footsteps by becoming an actor, John revealed that he wasn't going to go into overprotective papa mode by saying no — although it's hard for any parent to witness their child experiencing the heartbreak of rejection. "You can be rejected in any profession," he pointed out on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." But while Ella grew up surrounded by love and support, she's no stranger to sadness.

For Kelly Preston and John Travolta, providing a sense of normalcy in their children's lives was a top priority after they became parents. "We ride bikes, we go swimming, we do art projects, and we do things as a family," Preston told Phase 9 Entertainment of her family's idyllic home life in Florida. "We go to ordinary places instead of five star restaurants all the time, like Denny's." But the peace they enjoyed away from the spotlight was shattered when they were taking advantage of one of the perks of their massive wealth. During a January 2009 trip to the Bahamas, Jett Travolta, who was 16 years old at the time, suffered a seizure and died. The Travoltas were visiting the islands to celebrate the New Year holiday with a group of friends and family members at a property they owned, per CBS News.

Ella Bleu Travolta was eight years old when her older brother passed, with every holiday season becoming bittersweet for her and her family. While her devastated parents didn't speak publicly about how Ella was feeling at the time, Preston later opened up to the media about how the family was working through their grief together. "We partake in spiritual counseling pretty much daily," she said, per USA Today. "Being with people who are important to you, being with people that you love, I think that's what has primarily helped us the most," Preston added.

Beginning the painful process of adjusting to the absence of her beloved brother wasn't the only way Ella Bleu Travolta's life dramatically changed after Jett Travolta died. Members of the Church of Scientology known as auditors invaded the Travolta household and remained there for two years. John Travolta revealed that he was in a dark place during this time. "The truth is, I didn't know if I was going to make it," he said during a 2014 event in London, per BBC News. "Life was no longer interesting to me, so it took a lot to get me better." Living with a parent whose grief was so overwhelming couldn't have been easy for a child who was grieving herself.

John was also spending an inordinate amount of time with the auditors, who hadn't just swooped in to provide emotional support, an ex-church official told the Daily Beast. They also purportedly served as monitors who made certain that John didn't entertain the idea of leaving the church. "They didn't take a day off, working through different angles of the techniques to get through grief and loss, and to make me feel that finally I could get through a day," John said. In an interview with The Telegraph, he revealed that the auditors even became his traveling companions. He didn't reveal whether they similarly worked with his wife or daughter but indicated to Us Weekly that the entire family benefited from the church's support.

All you have to do is glance at Ella Bleu Travolta and John Travolta's Instagram pages to see that the daughter and father enjoy each other's company. But in an interview with Esquire Spain, John explained why it was easier for him to mourn the death of Kelly Preston alone. "While it's great to have company, sometimes it becomes like you're helping them, instead of putting yourself to work overcoming the sense of loss and mourning," he said.

While everyone has to grieve in their own way, a source told OK! that Ella grew concerned her dad was beginning to neglect his friendships and was spending too much time holed up at home. She purportedly shouldered the responsibility of encouraging him to change his behavior. "What Ella wants most is for him not to be alone with his pain anymore," the insider said, adding that it was also Ella's hope that her dad would someday get back in the dating game. She may have her work cut out for her, as another source told Radar, "John still considers himself married and says he will stay loyal to Kelly until the day he dies." As of this writing, it appears that John's kids remain his number one priority. Luckily, Ella is always game to hang out with her pops and told SheKnows that one of their favorite father-daughter activities is watching "The Kardashians" together.

Ella Bleu Travolta decided to follow in her father's rhythmic footsteps by recording music, telling People that she spent some of her free time during the early days of the pandemic penning songs. She was 20 at the time and wanted to write about being in love, but unlike Taylor Swift, she had no personal experiences to reflect back on and draw inspiration from. "I had never actually been in a relationship or anything," she said, "but I had watched other people be in relationships or experienced some form of love."

When Ella appeared with both of her parents on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2016, "Summer Nights" singer John Travolta said of his daughter's love life, "I don't interfere with that." Kelly Preston revealed that she was the one Ella talked to about matters of the heart, but by the time Ella decided to embark on her singing career, she'd sadly lost the parent whose heart-to-hearts could have given her more insight into the emotional rollercoaster that is being in love.

In early 2023, Ella said she was working on an EP that would include songs examining love and a feeling she's all too familiar with: grief. She previously released a track titled "Dizzy" that touched on love and loss, with lyrics such as, "I know that she's your light now / And I laugh so hard when you make fun of me / Though I can't make you happy."