From Betty White and Olivia Newton John to Shane Warne and Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, 2022 has taken some of our most cherished stars. But as the year draws to a close, it seems we aren’t done yet.
Kirstie Alley’s children, Lillie and True Stevenson, sent shockwaves around the world last week, when they announced the 71-year-old actress had died after a “recently discovered” battle with colon cancer.
“Nobody outside of her family and a very select few others knew [she was sick],” a source close to the situation tells New Idea exclusively.
“Kirstie lived a life of addiction, lost love, family bliss, all of it,” says a friend. “Despite it all, she maintained this sunny outlook on life and a don’t-mess-with-me attitude. For that, she will be missed.”
Kirstie shot to fame in 1987 playing Rebecca Howe in the sitcom Cheers, for which she won an Emmy and a Golden Globe. A few years later she scored another hit TV series, playing the lead in Veronica’s Closet, and played a fictionalised version of herself in Fat Actress.
Her most memorable movie role was playing Mollie opposite John Travolta in the three Look Who’s Talking films. An enduring friendship began, and despite being married to Parker Stevenson at the time, Kirstie later admitted she “would have married” her co-star.
The mystery as to why Kirstie, who in recent years cultivated an online following for her outspoken political and anti-vaccine beliefs, kept her diagnosis a secret may lie within her controversial Scientology religion.
“One of the promises Scientology makes to members (on paper!) is if you reach the upper levels of Scientology, you won’t get cancer,” says New York Magazine journalist Yashar Ali.
“Kirstie Alley and [John Travolta’s wife] Kelly Preston have both died of cancer in the past two years.”
Similarly, Kelly, who was 57 when she succumbed to breast cancer in 2020, did not reveal her diagnosis, leaving a bereaved John, 68, to announce both her illness and death at the same time.
While the Church doesn’t appear to publicly insist followers won’t get cancer, it’s late founder L. Ron Hubbard claimed it could be caused by “sexual upset”.
In his 1950s book Dianetics, Hubbard alleges that his “technology” of counselling techniques can cure “almost all illnesses” – though Kirstie’s family insist she sought treatment from a leading hospital in Tampa, Florida.
The church has also faced fire for encouraging followers to eschew traditional psychiatry for mental illness and drug addiction treatment.
In 2018, Kirstie, who lived in Clearwater, Florida, home of Scientology’s global HQ, bragged that she’d reached Operating Thetan Eight in her studies. At this level the church’s followers believe they can leave their bodies. Kirstie also hailed the religion for curing her of cocaine addiction in the 1980s
“Aside from her kids and grandkids, Scientology was Kirstie’s whole life – especially in her later years,” says an exclusive source. “She would receive visits from their top brass at her home almost every day. It is safe to assume it played a huge part in how she approached her illness.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
