What You Didn't Know About Kelly Preston's Daughter, Ella Bleu Travolta
In 2009, Ella Bleu Travolta lost her 16-year-old brother Jett while on vacation in the Bahamas (via the BBC). At just 20 years of age, Ella Bleu Travolta also tragically lost her mother, Kelly Preston. As John Travolta announced to Instagram, Kelly Preston died of breast cancer on July 12, 2020, at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. A heartbroken Ella Bleu remembered her mother just an hour after Travolta's post, writing, "Thank you for your help and thank you for making this world a better place. You have made life so beautiful and I know you will continue to do so always" (via Deadline).
If social media is anything to go by, Ella had a close relationship with both of her parents. Her Instagram resembles a living family photo album, filled with virtual Easter, New Year's, birthday, Mother's Day, and Father's Day cards. But other than her large following on her family-centered social media, the web has kept relatively hushed about John Travolta and Preston's beautiful daughter. Just who is she?
Ella Bleu is following in her parents' footsteps
That's a young Ella Bleu walking the red carpet. She made her red carpet debut after starring in "Old Dogs," the not-so-successful movie in which John Travolta and Robbin Williams struggle to take care of two seven-year-old twins, one of whom is played by Ella (via Rotten Tomatoes). While "Old Dogs" was Ella's first official movie, it wasn't her first foray into acting. She'd been mandating her family's attendance at impromptu plays (think: "Hulk" and "Housewives of Maine") long before her Hollywood debut (via Entertainment Weekly).
There's no question about it. Travolta's daughter was born into the business. Ella Bleu, who, according to Instagram, is a "Harry Potter" fan, also love's her parents' movies. What are her favorites? According to Entertainment Weekly, she's big on "What a Girl Wants," "Grease," and "From Paris with Love." Needless to say, her papa John, is proud of her. "She is her own person. She is gracious, generous, poised, graceful and gorgeous," the big-time actor gushed to People in 2019. "I don't know how she came to be, and I don't take any credit other than just adoring her."
The 2019 flop that Ella Bleu Travolta starred in
In 2019, Ella Bleu Travolta took a stab at her second Hollywood movie, starring alongside John Travolta and Morgan Freeman in "The Poison Rose." The names on the ticket were big, and the movie might have been Travolta's first big breakthrough. Unfortunately, while Ella Bleu purportedly had "such a great time filming," movie-goers didn't have as great a time watching. Film reviewers condemned the movie as a "dull whodunit" (via Observer).
Ella Bleu got a second chance of sorts during Super Bowl 2020 when she appeared alongside her dad, John, in a commercial also featuring Martha Stewart (via ET). Of course, they did the "Grease" dance together. Of course, it was a success. The following day, Ella Bleu boasted on her Instagram that she and her dad had reached number one on Yahoo searches thanks to the commercial. She'll get a third chance to wow movie lovers in the upcoming "Get Lost," a movie Deadline describes as a modern re-imagining of "Alice in Wonderland." In it Travolta takes a magic-filled trip, backpacking through Europe, following her mother's last wishes. We'll be lining up to get tickets. Will you?
The unexpected family hobby Ella Bleu and her family partake in
Lest you assume that Ella Bleu and her family are all about the show business, rest assured, they enjoy other pastimes, too. In 2019, when touring to promote "The Poison Rose," Travolta told Access Hollywood that her family enjoys holding bake-offs against one another! Who dominates? Her dad, John, according to Ella Bleu. "We're all good at it, but he wins the competitions a lot," the young actress revealed.
John might be a mean baker, but there's no question that Ella Bleu shares his passion. In April 2021 to celebrate 500,000 Instagram followers, the actress baked them all macarons. "The macarons were supposed to be purple, but oh well," she captioned the video. Ella Bleu's macarons didn't get her a virtual Paul Hollywood handshake (like Blake Lively's unicorn cake did) but they nevertheless impressed her followers. If Hollywood movies don't work out for Travolta, perhaps she has a future at the Food Network?
Ella Bleu Travolta's surprising Oprah connection
It's not just Meghan and Harry's kids who've got an in with Oprah. Oprah may or may not have gifted Ella Bleu Travolta with a mini library — as she did for baby Archie (via Oprah Daily) — but Oprah was nonetheless there for one of Ella Bleu's major childhood milestones. The actress told the surprising story to Guest Host Lena Waithe on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in 2019. "I actually lost my first tooth with Oprah on a boat," she told Waithe (via Hollywood Reporter). "It just happened, and I was really excited. I think I swallowed the tooth." Don't worry. The tooth fairy still came.
If losing your first tooth with Oprah sounds extravagant, it's just another day in the life for Travolta. Remember that time on "Ellen" when DeGeneres and John tried to teach a 16-year-old Ella how to parallel park (via People)? Finally, No big deal, Travolta's met Hollywood heartthrob and Twighlight star, Taylor Lautner. He came over to their house. "And I loved him. Team Jacob," Ella Bleu narrated to Lena Waithe. "My friends and I were looking at pictures of him and just sort of researching him — like, 'Oh my gosh, he's coming." Everything went great until her dad outed her as a super fan. Hazards of having a famous dad, we guess.
Ella Bleu may be a rising star in Scientology
You're looking at John and a young Ella Travolta attending the Church of Scientology. John Travolta, who confessed that Scientology helped him cope with his son Jett's death, may have brought Ella Bleu into the world of Scientology (via USA Today). But since? She has been busy making her own waves (via The Things). The internet went a bit crazy in 2019 after Bleu was photographed front in center in the Church of Scientology's Dianetics Day celebration (via Page Six). Dianetics Day, for all of you who need a refresher, is the date marking the initial publication of "Dianetics," which is a "methodology which can help alleviate unwanted sensations and emotions, irrational fears and psychosomatic illnesses" (via Scientology).
Whatever your thoughts on Scientology, Ella Bleu in the company of other powerful, Hollywood women. Kristie Alley, Elisabeth Moss, Laura Prepon, Bijou Phillips, Juliette Lewis, Jenna Elfman, and Catherine Bell are all purportedly dedicated Scientologists (via Business Insider).