Why John Travolta's Dance With Princess Diana Almost Turned Into a PR Nightmare

Kristyn Burtt
·2 min read
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Fans of Princess Diana remember her visit to the White House in 1985 because the images from the dance floor still resonate almost 40 years later. Her twirl around the ballroom with John Travolta is still legendary to this day, but surprising new insight is being revealed by a beloved TV star.

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Tom Selleck recalled the nostalgic night in his new memoir, You Never Know, and gave fresh details about the Princess of Wales’ dance with the Saturday Night Fever star — it almost created a PR disaster for the palace. “After dinner, everybody moved to the East Room for music and dancing,” Selleck wrote in an excerpt obtained by the New York Post. “President [Ronald] Reagan and Princess Diana danced, and Charles danced with Nancy [Reagan]. Then John Travolta and the princess started dancing.” Those first dances went smoothly until a woman, who was “speaking very rapidly,” approached the Magnum, P.I. star and Clint Eastwood.

Actor Tom Selleck attends the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium.
Actor Tom Selleck attends the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium.

“Mr. Travolta and the princess are dancing for a second time together. We can’t have that. We don’t want to start rumors, do we? Mr. Selleck, you must step in and replace him,” the woman told Selleck. He was rather uncomfortable with that idea.

“‘I’M NOT CUTTING IN ON JOHN TRAVOLTA!’ was my reply, probably in too loud a voice,” Selleck wrote in his memoir. “She was not happy. ‘Very well. The next dance, come with me.’”

As Travolta finished spinning with Diana on the dance floor, Selleck asked her to dance — and he lucked out because it was “a slow number.” He had nothing but praise for the late royal. “Princess Diana was lovely, and there was a very shy quality about her in spite of her being well-schooled in the art of conversation,” he continued. “I gotta say she seemed to be having the time of her life. I was relieved she talked most of the time. Let’s just say it was not my finest hour as a conversationalist.”

While Selleck helped Diana avoid negative headlines about spending too much time with Travolta, the Pulp Fiction star still loves to relive his “fairytale” moment with the princess. “Think of the setting. We were at the White House. It’s midnight. The stage is like a dream,” Travolta recalled to Esquire in 2021. “I approach her, touch her elbow, invite her to dance. She spins around and gives me that captivating smile, just a little sad, and accepts my invitation. And there we were, dancing together as if it were a fairytale.” What a time to be alive!

Before you go, click here to see all of our favorite photos of Princess Diana.

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