It’s a tale as old as time…or at least, over 40 years ago, when John Travolta and Princess Diana famously danced up a storm at a White House banquet.
In 1985, then-President Ronald Reagan invited then-Prince Charles and the Princess of Wales to the White House, along with three of the era’s biggest actors: John Travolta, Clint Eastwood, and Tom Selleck.
A night of dancing in the grand foyer then commenced, and when the Grease star took to the floor with Diana, the crowd was enraptured. However, when they started to dance together for a second time, one of the palace aides instructed Tom to cut in and take John’s place so as to not “start rumors.”
Speaking with his former co-star and friend Ted Danson for a live recording of the latter’s podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name recently, Tom, now 81, looked back on that iconic moment and how it all went down.
He remembered him and Clint being told: “One of you has to cut in,” before John and Diana went for a second round, with Tom incredulously responding: “I’m not cutting in on John Travolta!” Clint, for his part, “didn’t even bother.”
Eventually, the Magnum P.I. star did cut in for the Saturday Night Fever actor, and quipped about his lack of ballroom dance experience, telling Ted that all he remembered from doing cotillion when he was younger was the box step and the dip. “And you don’t want to dip with Princess Di,” he joked.
© Getty Images“It wasn’t a very long dance, but I just kept apologizing for my dancing, and it was over,” he continued, although added that in contrast, his wife Jillie Mack was dancing with Charles, and thanks to her professional dance experience, was having “a great old time.”
As for what the late Diana was like, Tom gushed: “She was tall and gracious and she was having the time of her life,” saying she “loved every minute” of the entire evening, with the actor adding that the guest list was also of her choosing.
In his memoir You Never Know, the Blue Bloods star further discussed the details of that famous night. “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 of the beloved royal.
© Maidun Collection / Alamy Stock Photo“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.”
His dance with Diana ended up being brief, as when Jillie went for a second dance with Charles, Clint cut in for Tom. The actor then found himself dancing with First Lady Nancy Reagan and felt more at ease.
© MediaPunch Inc / Alamy Stock Photo“Clint took over for me, and I got to dance with my friend Nancy [Reagan],” Tom penned. “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.”
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