Spanx Founder Sara Blakely Reveals She Bought Olivia Newton-John’s Grease Pants for Over $160K
Spanx founder Sara Blakely said “You’re The One That I Want” to Olivia Newton-John‘s famed black satin pants from Grease.
On Tuesday’s episode of CBS This Morning, the 48-year-old businesswoman revealed herself as the anonymous buyer of the iconic outfit, dropping $162,000 to become the proud owner of the pants.
“I have been the biggest fan of Olivia since I was a little girl and since Grease came out,” Blakely admitted, adding that the actress even sang at her wedding.
“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.’ “
The auction — which took place on Nov. 1 and 2 in Los Angeles at Julien Auctions’ Idols & Icons event — sold off several other pieces of Grease memorabilia, including the Pink Ladies jacket which Blakely also purchased. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Center in Melbourne, Australia.
This morning we're revealing the anonymous buyer behind @olivianj's famed black satin pants from #Grease: @SPANX founder Sara Blakely!
The pants sold for more than $162,000 and will be going on display at Spanx headquarters. https://t.co/hKqGKcaU9l pic.twitter.com/uyH0I8Y9wl— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) November 5, 2019
Blakely revealed that she had “no game plan” when it came to the bidding on the pants — which were instantly made famous when Newton-John, 71, wore them during the song, “You’re The One That I Want.”
“I was actually here in New York for my anniversary with my husband, we were out to dinner,” the entrepreneur explained. “I had a friend bidding for me so she was on speakerphone while we were at dinner. I said ‘Honey, honey I won the pants!’ and he was like ‘Let’s be clear, you didn’t win, you paid the most,'” she laughed.
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Now that she owns the pants, Blakely hopes to show them off to the rest of the Spanx team.
“I’m gonna frame them and hang them at Spanx,” she told the CBS This Morning co-hosts.
She added: “We have black faux-leather leggings and they have become a cult following and they were inspired off of Olivia’s pants. She is the OG of black leggings, I had to own them as the Spanx founder.”
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In an interview with Lorraine leading up to the auction, Newton-John revealed that she anticipated the leather outfit to bring in the most amount of money for the cancer center.
While the actress wore the Grease costume one last time during an interview with Gayle King on CBS Sunday Morning in September, she said that it’s been kept in her everyday closet ever since she wrapped the film in 1978. But this weekend, she was ready to pass it on to someone else.
“It was in my closet for many, many years. Someone’s going to enjoy them, and this has a purpose,” Newton-John said.
She later revealed during an interview with Entertainment Tonight that it’s still in the same condition as it was on set. “They had to stitch me into [the pants] when I had to shoot, so the zipper’s still broken. But they’re fabulous,” she said.
Other items that were up for auction included sportswear she wore while promoting her hit song “Physical” and pieces from the cult-classic film, Xanadu including thigh-high suede western boots and Missoni pants.
