In a recent teaser from Celine Dion‘s Tuesday (6.11) interview with The Today Show’s Hoda Kotb, the Canadian chanteuse came clean about why she opted to go public with her Stiff Person Syndrome diagnosis.
Sharing that she didn’t talk about her illness at first because she was still trying to understand what her future would hold, the legendary singer said “What did you want me to say? ‘I have…’ what?” “We did not know what was going on.”
It was in December of 2022 that she admitted her extremely rare neurological disorder, which causes muscle stiffness and spasms that subsequently led to her cancelling all of her 2023 and 2024 concerts.
The now 56-year old superstar stated that she first experienced symptoms of the condition in 2008 during her Taking Chances World Tour.
“I did not take the time I should have stopped, take the time to figure it out,” Dion admitted, adding that her late husband René Angélil was “fighting for his own life” at the time as he battled throat cancer. “I had to raise my kids, I had to hide. I had to try to be a hero,” the mother-of-three added.
Stating that keeping her diagnosis a secret took a toll on her, she said “I could not do this anymore.” “Lying for me, the burden was too much. Lying to the people who got me where I am today, I could not do it anymore.”
Now four years since she performed in front of a live audience, the musician has returned to the public eye and has opened up about the details of her illness and how it has affected her career in the upcoming documentary I Am: Celine Dion, which will premiere June 18.
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: Yoyo76300