John Travolta has praised Scientology's 'enormous tools' for decades -

John Travolta has been a member of Scientology for half a century. He first became associated with the church in the 1970s, and after decades following the religion, he opened up on how it helped him in life.

The Grease star first skyrocketed to fame in the TV series Welcome Back, Kotter, back in 1975. This was before he was Sandy’s Danny and the hair-combing, car-racing Zuko we fell in love with. It’s hard to know exactly when John Travolta joined Scientology, but it’s believed to be this decade, so either before or after his start in Hollywood. Rumors emerged last year he may be breaking away from the faith, but neither the Church of Scientology nor John Travolta himself confirmed the claims. So as it stands, he’s still a Scientologist.

John Travolta’s wife was also a member of Scientology

His wife, Kelly Preston, spoke highly of the faith, stating its one of the reasons she was able to cope following the tragic death of her teenage son. Jett passed away from a seizure in 2009.

John spoke about his son following his death, explaining Jett, who was autistic, would suffer seizures every five to 10 days. Each episode would last between 45 seconds and a minute-long, and it left the teen exhausted, so he would sleep for around 12 hours afterward.

The movie star was alerted by a nanny the teen had fallen ill at their vacation home on Grand Bahama island on January 2. He ran downstairs and performed CPR on Jett. Sadly, he later died from a seizure.

Kelly was devoted to Scientology, much like husband John Travolta. The faith’s own publication, Freewinds, reported she reached Operating Thetan Level Eight in 2015, known as the highest auditing level in the faith. According to the religion, it would mean they have certain powers, such as to leave their mortal bodies, read minds and to create matter.

Two years later, she praised the church for getting her through it, as well as her family and friends.

John leaned on the church for ‘two solid years’

Following the tragic death of his son, John Travolta told The Telegraph the Church of Scientology installed auditors at his house so they could be on call 24/7.

The celebrity said: “I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had the support of Scientology. I don’t think I could have got through it. They were with me every day after Jett died.

“They even traveled with me when I needed to get away. And for a solid two years it was like that. It was only in the second year that I started to take a break of a day or two just to see how I was doing on my own.”

Kelly felt the same. She told Health magazine on grieving: “Johnny is definitely my rock. Kirstie [Alley] is one of my absolute best friends. My mom, my brother. And to be honest, the Scientology center. I don’t know if I would have made it through without it.”

Kelly also appeared on The Conversation, and explained how ‘auditing’ in the church helped her. Kelly said: “In Scientology, we have what’s called ‘auditing,’ and that helps you to address things in your life and to strip them away.

“Through that, the people at my church literally held my hand and got me through… I will forever be indebted.”

The actress died of breast cancer in 2020 after fighting the disease for two years, at age 57.

Grease star didn’t shy from the hard questions

Whilst appearing on a UK talk show, Friday Night With Jonathan Ross in 2007, he was asked about the church.

The host quizzed John Travolta on the famous ‘silent births’ where rumors claim women can’t make a sound while in labor. But the actor cleared it up and said it’s more about ‘verbage’. One of the famous stories to come from silent births is Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, with their daughter, Suri.

He said: “I’ve been involved 32 years and it’s given me all the tools to survive in life that I need … usually a person like me has self-destructed … it’s pretty simple stuff, there’s a need to avoid ‘verbage’, it’s just better to be quiet.”

Then, when HBO released a documentary in 2015, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief’, he defended the church.

“I’ve been so happy with my [Scientology] experience in the last 40 years that I really don’t have anything to say that would shed light on [a documentary] so decidedly negative,” he said to the Tampa Bay Times.

“I’ve been brought through storms that were insurmountable, and [Scientology has] been so beautiful for me, that I can’t even imagine attacking it.”