Tom Selleck danced with Princess Diana to avoid ‘rumors’ starting about her and John Travolta
John Travolta is a tough act to follow.
So when the actor shared his famous dance with the late Princess Diana at the White House state dinner in 1985, rumors about the duo were guaranteed to swirl.
Fortunately for Travolta, Tom Selleck was among the star-studded guests who quickly rescued the Princess from future gossip.
In his memoir, “You Never Know,” Selleck detailed the evening, revealing that he, Travolta, and Clint Eastwood were the only three actors invited to celebrate Diana and the then-Prince Charles.
Admitting he was “anxious” to meet the royals, the “Blue Bloods” actor recalled how “charming, graceful, and beautiful” Diana was that evening.
He added that Charles, now King, had the rare skill “of making you feel like you were important to him in your moment together.”
“After dinner, everybody moved to the East Room for music and dancing,” Selleck wrote. President [Ronald] Reagan and Princess Diana danced, and Charles danced with Nancy [Reagan]. Then John Travolta and the princess started dancing,” he explained.
Moments later, Selleck and Eastwood were approached by a woman “speaking very rapidly.”
“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 him.
“‘I’M NOT CUTTING IN ON JOHN TRAVOLTA!’ was my reply, probably in too loud a voice,” Selleck wrote. “She was not happy. ‘Very well. The next dance, come with me.’”
Admitting he was nervous to hit the dance floor with Diana — especially after her dance with Travolta — Selleck was glad the song was “a slow number.”
The “Three Men and a Baby” actor apologized to the princess for his dancing.
“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 wrote.
“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 danced with Diana, his wife Jillie Mack hit the dance floor with Charles.
The then-Prince apparently thanked Selleck’s wife for “rescuing” him after all of the First Lady’s friends “kept stepping on my toes.”
“The prince asked Jillie for a second dance. Clint took over for me, and I got to dance with my friend Nancy,” Selleck wrote.
“She was relaxed, and I was relaxed. They were playing a song from the 1940s. I wish I could remember what it was, because Nancy was quietly singing along. What a nice way to end the evening.”
In 2021, Travolta reflected on the now-famous dance with Diana, calling the moment a “fairytale.”
“I didn’t think they’d ask me to dance with her. I had the great privilege and honor of doing so, and I thought, ‘There must be a reason for doing this and I better give it my all,’” Travolta, 67, told Esquire Spain in his May 2021 cover story.
Travolta went on to describe the energy in the room at the event and how Diana reacted to his invitation to hit the dance floor.
“Think of the setting. We were at the White House. It’s midnight. The stage is like a dream,” Travolta remembered. “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.”
