CNN
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Kirstie Alley and John Travolta never had a relationship, but that wasn’t what she originally wanted.
Alley died on Monday at the age of 71 after a brief illness. She has often spoken of her feelings for Travolta, whom she called the “greatest love” of her life.
The two co-starred in the film Look Who’s Talking (the first film was released in 1989). In 2018, Alley spoke on Celebrity Big Brother UK about how easy it was to fall in love with the leading man.
She mentioned two co-stars for whom she said she developed feelings for but never fully realized the attraction: Patrick Swayze and Travolta.
“I almost ran away and married John. I did love him and I still love him,” Avery said. “If I hadn’t been married, I would have married him and I would have been on the plane because he had his [own plane.]”
The same year she appeared on the reality show, the “Cheers” star also spoke about Travolta during a conversation on the “The Dan Wootton Interview” podcast. She said not sleeping with the movie star was “the hardest decision I’ve ever made because I was madly in love with him.”
“We have a lot of fun together,” she said. “It was not a sexual relationship because I would not cheat on my husband.”
Ailey was married to actor Parker Stevenson at the time. The couple divorced in 1997.
In 2013, Ailey told Howard Stern that Travolta also had feelings for her but didn’t act on them because of her marriage.
“It took me many years to stop seeing John as a romantic interest,” she said.
Travolta married actress Kelly Preston in 1991.
“Kelly came up to me, and they were married at the time, and she said, ‘Why are you flirting with my husband?'” Ally said. “That’s when I had to make a decision and it was pretty much over.”
Travolta paid tribute to Alley on social media on Monday.
“Kirstie is one of the most special relationships I’ve ever had,” he wrote in the caption of a post on his verified Instagram account. “I love you Kirsty. I know we will see each other again.