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Olivia Newton-John: Nobody Knows If My Missing Boyfriend Faked His Own Death

Olivia Newton-John opened up about reports that her missing boyfriend, Patrick McDermott, faked his own death back in 2005 and has been secretly living in Mexico for the past decade. 

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McDermott, who dated the Grease actress on and off for nine years prior to his disappearance, mysteriously vanished during an overnight fishing trip near San Pedro, California. The Coast Guard was never able to locate his body and said he “likely drowned.”

“It was very hard. He was lost at sea, and nobody really knows what happened,” Newton-John, 68, said in a new interview with Australia’s 60 Minutes

Olivia Newton-John poses with Patrick McDermott at the 10th Annual Human Rights Campaign Gala, February 17, 2001 in Los Angeles, CA.
Olivia Newton-John poses with Patrick McDermott at the 10th Annual Human Rights Campaign Gala, Feb. 17, 2001, in Los Angeles.

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When asked if she thinks about McDermott’s whereabouts, she said, “It’s human to wonder. But you know, those are the things in life you have to accept and let go. Because whenever you go through difficult times, there’s always those concerns.”

“But, I live on,” the Australian beauty said. “And of course questions come up, always. It’s human.”

McDermott’s alleged accident raised suspicions because none of the 22 other passengers on the boat saw him fall overboard. A theory arose that he went missing to escape his debts, including $8,000 he owed in child support. His life insurance policy would leave $100,000 behind for his son, Chance, according to Women’s Day.

Olivia Newton-John attends the Steve Irwin Gala Dinner at JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE on May 21, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.
Olivia Newton-John attends the Steve Irwin Gala Dinner at JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE on May 21, 2016, in Los Angeles.

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Australian tabloid Women’s Day resurfaced the mystery of his disappearance back in March when it published a story in which a private investigator, Philip Klein, claimed to have located McDermott in the remote Mexican village of Sayulita. “Patrick’s probably now working in the yachting industry for a high-profile family down there,” Klein alleged. He also claimed Newton-John’s ex has moved on with a new German girlfriend.

Newton-John eventually found love again with businessman John Easterling, and the pair tied the knot in Peru in 2008. 

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