INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Ella Travolta Makes Rare TV Appearance With Dad John, Gets On-Camera Driving Lesson

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 02:31 PST, Apr 6, 2016

Ella Travolta doesn’t do very many TV interviews, but when she does, The Ellen DeGeneres Show seems to be her go-to spot. The 16-year-old daughter of John Travolta and Kelly Preston appeared with her famous dad this week on Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show, and fans got to see a new side of the celeb teen.

During the interview, John said he “doesn’t ask” Ella anything about her dating life because he doesn’t want to interfere, but the actor noted that “she has two guys that she hangs out with.” Ella’s mom, Kelly, said she knows “everything” about the subject, though, and she confirmed that Ella isn’t dating anyone yet, which garnered a positive response from overprotective John, who said he hopes to keep it that way.

“Let’s keep it that way. I never want my children to leave the house, ever.”

It’s not surprising that John Travolta is protective of his daughter Ella. Travolta’s oldest child, Jett, died at age 16 after suffering a seizure. Travolta has called his son’s sudden death “the worst thing that’s ever happened in my life.” Now Ella is the same age as Jett was when he died, so John and Kelly are dealing with a major teen rite of passage: driving.

After it was mentioned that Ella has started to drive, DeGeneres suggested an on-camera lesson in parallel parking. The talk show host led Ella and her dad outside to the parking lot for a lesson in a retro ride, with Ella in the driver’s seat and Travolta and DeGeneres in the back. Of course, Ellen got a little nervous when Ella almost backed into a red sports car, so the host smartly jumped out of the car. You can see the video of the hilarious incident below.

In 2009, Ella Travolta made her first-ever talk show appearance on Ellen’s show to promote the movie Old Dogs with her dad. She was only 9-years-old at the time, and she said she always knew he dad was “cool.”

At the time of the Old Dogs premiere, John Travolta told People he wanted to expose Ella to the press a little bit to see how she liked the red carpet life.

“I decided to expose her a little bit to the press and to the fans and it all went really well. She was good. She did about half of it and then she got tired of it.”

The proud papa also added that his daughter is a gifted “natural” and that she inherited her mom’s looks and his singing and dancing skills. (A few years later, Ella is a dead ringer for John.)

“She’s quite terrific. We just saw her screen test. She already got the job and she auditioned after the fact. They were relieved that she was so good and I was relieved too to be honest. She’s fabulous. She looked like Brigitte Bardot at 7.”

While Ella Travolta loved seeing herself on the big screen in Old Dogs, her younger brother, Benjamin, doesn’t share her love for the spotlight. Ben, considered a “miracle baby” by Travolta and Preston (the child was conceived when Kelly was 48-years-old), was playing with his mom backstage while John was being interviewed on The Late Show with David Letterman last summer, but when Letterman called the boy to come out, Ben reluctantly approached the stage and then ran the other way.

Ella Travolta seems to be the complete opposite of her shy little brother! Take a look at the video below to see Ella Travolta’s hilarious driving lesson on Ellen.

[Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images]

Share this article: Ella Travolta Makes Rare TV Appearance With Dad John, Gets On-Camera Driving Lesson
john travolta kelly preston
More from Inquisitr