Spanx Founder Sara Blakely Reveals She Has Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Grease’ Pants Framed in Her Office

Spanx founder Sara Blakely truly believes she “manifested” Olivia Newton-John into her life.

When the Grease star died on August 8 at age 73, tributes started pouring in from around the world. Blakely penned one of her own for Newton-John, sharing it on Instagram alongside a collection of photos.

“Olivia was my childhood idol. I loved her so much, I believe I literally manifested her into my life,” she wrote. Blakely went on to share a story of how, when she was a little girl, she found out where Newton-John lived and went and knocked on her door, hoping to meet her. It may not have worked out that time around, but when she grew up, she found a friend in the Xanadu star. Newton-John even sang at Blakely’s wedding in 2008.

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Blakely was such a huge fan of Newton-John’s — and especially her portrayal of Sandy in the 1978 movie Grease — that when the opportunity presented itself to own a piece of cinematic history, she jumped at it. In 2019, some items from Grease were auctioned off, and Blakely snagged Newton-John’s iconic black pants from the finale of the movie — for a cool $162,000.

The auction, which also benefited the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Center in Melbourne, Australia, rolled out a selection of items from the movie for a good cause. Blakely also grabbed the actress’ Pink Ladies jacket.

“I have been the biggest fan of Olivia since I was a little girl and since Grease came out,” Blakely shared on CBS This Morning in 2019.

“My friends called me two days before the auction and I didn’t know it was happening. She told me they’re putting the pants up, and the outfit, for charity. And I thought ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to try to get these.’ “

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Just before she offered the pants up for auction, though, Newton-John slipped back into them. She joined Gayle King on CBS Sunday Morning in September 2019, joking that her iconic pants “live again” and even revealed that back when they filmed the movie, she had to be sewn into them because they didn’t really fit.

“I was a pretty skinny girl and they were the perfect fit for me except the zip was broken, so they would stitch me into them,” she said of the pants she wore to sing “You’re the One That I Want” alongside John Travolta as Danny.

Now the pants are forever memorialized at Spanx headquarters, where Blakely had them framed and hung on the wall. Blakely wrote in her Instagram tribute to the actress that she “won” the pants at auction. She jokingly added, though, “Ok… I didn’t win, I paid the most but I had to because dreams do come true. They are now framed hanging on the wall at Spanx.”

Also part of the Grease auction was Newton-John’s leather jacket from the movie. The jacket sold for $243,200 to an anonymous buyer — who returned it to Newton-John just a month later. Julien’s Auctions, who hosted the event, shared a video on Facebook in December 2019 with the touching moment when the buyer gifted the jacket right back to its “rightful owner.”

“This jacket belongs to you and the collective soul of those who love you, those for whom you are the soundtrack of their lives. It should not sit in a billionaire’s closet for country club bragging rights,” he said in the video while presenting Newton-John with her leather jacket.