Canadian singer, Celine Dion has revealed that she secretly battled stiff person syndrome for 17 years before revealing it to the public.
The singer, 56, first revealed that she had been diagnosed with the rare autoimmune neurological disorder in 2022, but she has now shared that she’s been battling with the horrific condition in secrecy for nearly two decades before she told the world about it.
During a preview for an upcoming sit-down with Today Show host Hoda Kotb, the hitmaker detailed the pain of having to hide the disorder from her supporters.
She described keeping it from ‘the people who got her to where she was’ as a huge ‘burden,’ explaining that it felt like she had to act like a ‘hero’ while secretly feeling like her ‘body was leaving her.’
In a teaser for the upcoming chat, which will air in full on Tuesday, Celine explained that when she first started to realize something was wrong, she didn’t ‘take the time’ to figure out what was going on.
She recalled struggling while her husband, René Angélil, battled his own slew of health woes; he passed away from throat cancer in 2016.
‘We did not know what was going on [with me],’ she said. ‘I did not take the time… I should have stopped, took the time to figure it out.
‘And like it wasn’t enough, my husband as well is fighting for his own life.’
After his passing, Celine said she had a hard time balancing raising her kids, René-Charles, 23, and twins Nelson and Eddy, 13, with her career – all while keeping her deteriorating health a secret from the public.
‘I had to raise my kids, I had to hide, I had to try to be a hero – while feeling my body leaving me,’ she continued. ‘[I was] holding on to my own dreams.’
But she said ‘lying’ eventually became ‘too much,’ adding, ‘Lying for me was… The burden was too much. Lying to the people who got me to where I am today, I could not do it anymore.’
‘Not telling the truth was too much to carry,’ host Hoda said, to which Celine replied, ‘I could not do this anymore.’
Despite battling the disease for 17 years, Celine continued to perform up until 2022, when she shared her diagnosis with the world and canceled all upcoming shows.