Brooke Shields Reveals Mother Controlled Her Love Life, Including John Travolta

Life as a young star can be incredibly challenging, teetering between achieving normalcy and risking disaster. Much of this balance depends on parental influence. For Brooke Shields, her mother’s tight control over her dating life led to an arranged relationship with John Travolta, which ultimately failed.

Travolta, now 70, first rose to fame with the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter before starring in hits like Carrie, Saturday Night Fever, and Grease. Shields began her career as a model at just 11 months old and became widely known for her role in Pretty Baby at 11. In her 2014 memoir, There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me, Shields recounts how her mother’s influence deeply affected her personal life.

In the memoir, Shields reveals how her mother, Teri Shields, managed her career with a PR-focused mindset. Teri believed dating was essential for generating buzz, leading her to orchestrate Brooke’s romantic life.

“Basically, my ‘relationships’ had always been orchestrated by my mother in one way or another,” Shields writes. “She directed my romantic life sometimes subtly and sometimes not. She didn’t focus on romance, but instead wanted to associate me with names that connoted fame, money, and power.”

At the time when Travolta had Blow Out releasing and Shields starred in Endless Love, Teri decided to match them up for publicity. They were represented by the same PR firm, which made the arrangement feasible. Though the setup caught media attention, it wasn’t always positive. Shields explained that the 11-year age difference meant there was no physical relationship, but a genuine friendship developed.

Travolta, then 27, agreed to go on a few dates with the 16-year-old Shields. Both have said that although nothing romantic came from the dates, they remained good friends.

“There are lots of women with physical beauty, but Brooke exudes goodness,” Travolta once said of Shields. “She’s untainted. You don’t want anyone to hurt her or say the wrong things, because she’s special.”

Despite Teri’s meticulous planning, the relationship didn’t flourish romantically. Shields asserts in her memoir that her mother’s true aim was leveraging her relationships for fame and influence, rather than fostering genuine romantic connections.

The friendship between Travolta and Shields endured past the media frenzy. Looking back, they both appreciate the bond they formed and hold mutual respect for each other. Shields’s recounting of her controlled youth serves as a testament to the multifaceted challenges young stars face, especially under the stringent guidance of ambitious parents.

This candid disclosure from Shields offers a glimpse into the often-cynical nature of Hollywood relationships, where decisions can sometimes be more about publicity than personal connection.

As Shields’s story unfolds through her memoir, it becomes evident how much of her early life was steered by external influences, particularly her mother’s ambitions. This revelation also highlights the resilience Shields demonstrated in navigating her career and personal life despite such pressures.

While her mother’s strategies were controversial, they inadvertently led to lifelong friendships and lessons that Shields continues to value. Her reflections in There Was a Little Girl offer insight into the complexities of growing up under the spotlight and the profound impact of parental control on a child star’s life.

Source: PEOPLE