'Daddy's girl' Ella Bleu tired of living in father John Travolta's shadow: Insiders reveal her mounting 'frustration' after failed bids for fame... and the Hollywood reputation she's desperate to shake

For most of her adult life, John Travolta's only daughter Ella Bleu Travolta has been her famous father's go-to plus one.

The 26-year-old, whose mom is the late actress Kelly Preston, has been by the Grease star's side on numerous red carpets in the last few years, helping him promote his new films – some of which she has also appeared in.

The Saturday Night Fever actor and proud father held her close in May while promoting his directorial debut, a film in which Ella Bleu also stars. At Cannes a few days prior, they donned matching ensembles, 72-year-old John in yet another beret, as they exchanged cheek kisses for the cameras.

The nepo baby has dabbled in music and acted alongside her dad in several films, but unlike her Hollywood contemporaries like Lily Collins or Ella Beatty, whose famous parents paved the way, she had not quite broken through with her own starring moment.

But this week, Ella Bleu stepped out on her own, walking the runway for Italian high fashion brand Miu Miu during Paris Fashion Week, and into a spotlight – one that could be bright enough to keep her out of her father's shadow for good.

'In Hollywood when you say Ella Travolta they are like "Huh? John Travolta's kid?'"' a family friend told the Daily Mail. 'It's time for Ella to break out of that and form her own identity.'

While this wasn't Ella Bleu's first modeling gig – she made her runway debut in 2022 walking in the Karl Lagerfeld show at New York Fashion Week and, two years later, landed the cover of Hunger Magazine – the family friend hopes that her latest move is a sign that she's finally forging her own professional path.

'Ella really wants to prove herself,' the insider said, noting she was thrilled to be cast by Miu Miu. 'She wants to show the world she has talent' and isn't just getting by on her name alone.

But the road to stardom has been anything but easy for Ella Bleu, who, with her hazel eyes and raven hair, is a spitting image of her dad during his '70s heyday.

Growing up on movie sets, Ella Bleu was naturally drawn to acting, but the 'opportunities have not been there yet,' the family friend said.

Ella Bleu made her acting debut in her dad's 2009 movie Old Dogs, which also starred her mom, when she was just nine years old. In the years since, she has appeared in three films; two of which also feature Travolta.

Most recently, she starred as a flight attendant in Travolta's directorial debut, Propeller: One-Way Night Coach, a semi-autobiographical film based on his own 1997 children's novella, which depicted his first flight in 1962.

With two movies in post-production – a horror-comedy with Sosie Bacon, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick's daughter, and an action thriller in which she'll reteam with her dad to take down a pod of rogue orcas – 'she's hoping one of them hits so she has more to choose from in the future.'

Travolta's daughter is 'very gentle' and 'extremely sweet and warm,' the insider said, so they worry that 'maybe Hollywood is too mean for her.'

According to the family friend, music is Ella Bleu's true 'passion and she is very good at it,' but she has been 'frustrated' by the response to the small batch of songs she has released. 

Back in 2024, she put out her debut EP, Colors of Love, which features the single Little Bird, a piano ballad dedicated to her late mother. The official video for the song, which features footage from the family's home movies, has racked up nearly 289,000 views in two years.

But Ella Bleu's music isn't the problem, according to the family friend. It's her social media presence – or lack thereof.

'She doesn't even have one million Instagram followers yet,' the insider said. 'She needs more fans, and she knows it.'

Since joining Instagram in 2019, Ella Bleu has amassed 748,000 followers. But unlike her contemporaries, her social media accounts are rather sparse. The 48 posts she's shared over a seven-year period offer little insight into her private life. Most of her content is promoting her music and films or collaborations with brands including Prada and Tod's.

Her most recent post gave a behind-the-scenes look at her getting ready for the Miu Miu show. 'From Paris with love...' Ella Bleu captioned the clip, which earned a sweet comment from her proud papa: 'I love this Ella - and I love you! Dad!'

An avid baker, whose signature treat is banana bread, she once ran Ella Bleu Bakes, an Instagram page dedicated to her vegan creations and the occasional restaurant recommendation. She hasn't posted to the account, which has fewer than 2,000 followers, since August 2024.

And when it comes to TikTok, she has seemingly given up altogether, last posting in December 2022 to promote her then-new song No Thank You.

It's not as if Ella Bleu's life isn't interesting enough to post about. After all, this is a girl who lost a baby tooth on board a boat with Oprah Winfrey and dined at home with her celebrity crush Taylor Lautner as a teenager.

Nevertheless, it was suggested that Ella Bleu 'try modeling to get more famous,' according to the family friend, who cited model-turned-actress (and fellow nepo baby) Kaia Gerber, the daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber, as someone whose career Ella Bleu 'admires.'

Unfortunately, Kaia and Ella Bleu have more in common than just their model pedigree. (Fun fact: Preston actually got her start as a model before turning to acting.)

Both have endured their fair share of tragedy in their young lives.

Last month, Kaia, 25, lost her older brother, Presley Gerber, who died on September 20 of a suspected overdose at the age of 27 while in a rehab home in Santa Monica, California.

As Kaia grieves the loss of the brother she often called her 'best friend,' her parents are focused on her well-being.

'Kaia is very sad; it's hard for her to believe her brother is gone forever. It's not sinking in just yet, it's a lot to digest, understandably,' a source told the Daily Mail six days after Presley's tragic passing.

Seventeen years earlier, Ella Bleu lost her own older brother, Jett Travolta, who died in 2009, at age 16, during a family getaway to the Bahamas.

Jett, who had autism, asthma and Kawasaki Syndrome, a rare condition that causes swelling and blood vessel enlargement, was said to have suffered a seizure and hit his head in a bathtub inside the Old Bahama Bay Hotel.

Then, in 2020, Ella Bleu lost her mom, who passed away at the age of 57 following a secret two-year battle with breast cancer.

Losing those closest to her brought her even closer to her dad, a source close to Travolta told the Daily Mail: 'It wasn't as if her formative years were easy, but John was always by her side and they grieved together.'

Indeed, Ella Bleu - who has another brother, 15-year-old Ben - still lives with her dad at his $3.3 million five-bedroom home in Ocala, Florida, complete with two runways for Travolta, who is a famously avid pilot.

But none of this is to say that she is stuck under her dad's thumb.

'John sees that she's spreading her wings, and he's encouraging it,' the source noted.

'The fact that she's stayed on the straight and narrow, unlike many celebrity children, gives him so much joy.'

Yet her relatively unknown existence both online and off has led some to wonder if the family's connection to Scientology has made it difficult for her to strike out on her own.

After all, she was primarily home-schooled and brought up by two devout Scientologist parents who took her to events connected to the controversial religion.

Back in 2019, Ella Bleu showed up at an awards ceremony at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida, on May 9 – or 'Dianetics Day' – one of Scientology's holiest days on the calendar. It's the day in 1950 that Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard published Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, the initial handbook that helped launch the movement. 

Wearing a Dianetics pin, Ella Bleu was pictured posing with Antonio Rosales, a Scientologist who was awarded Top Producer Book One Auditor for 2019.

'That was the first time I had noticed that she was following in her dad's footsteps and that she had been brought up in Scientology,' journalist Tony Ortega, who is known for his extensive coverage of the Church of Scientology, told the Daily Mail last year.

More recently, a family friend told the Daily Mail that 'Ella and John are very much still a part of Scientology, but they don't really talk about it.'

Still, in the past, Travolta has openly credited Scientology with helping him cope with the loss of his eldest son.

In a 2014 interview in London, John called Jett's death 'the worst thing that's ever happened in [his] life,' adding that he 'didn't know if [he] was going to make it' through the traumatic aftermath.

'Life was no longer interesting to me, so it took a lot to get me better,' he said, which is why he 'will forever be grateful to Scientology for supporting me for two years solid, I mean Monday through Sunday. They didn't take a day off, working through different angles of the techniques to get through grief and loss, and to make me feel that finally I could get through a day.'

Now, Travolta spends his days cheering for his daughter.

A source close to the actor said he was in Paris 'beaming with pride' as he watched his daughter strut her stuff on the runway. 'She's truly the light of his life.'

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for both John and Ella Bleu for comment.

Still, Travolta made sure 'to fly under the radar and let Ella take the spotlight. He didn't want to overshadow' her big day.

According to that same source, Ella Bleu, who 'literally has no ego,' was more than happy to have her father there waiting in the wings.

'Although she's 26, she's still very much a daddy's girl.'