Celine Dion said Today host Hoda Kotb that she “almost died,” Kotb revealed Friday during a preview of their upcoming interview.
“She’s doing a lot better now, but at one point she almost died, which is something she says,” Kotb told co-host Jenna Bush Hager, New York Post‘s Page Six report.
“It was a terrible time and she’s dealing with this.”
In December 2022, Dion, 59, revealed she had been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare and incurable neurological disease that can cause debilitating muscle spasms, causing her to cancel all upcoming performances.
As Dion said at the time, “Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life… Sometimes they cause difficulty when I walk and they don’t allow me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to.”
“All I know is to sing,” she said. “It’s what I’ve done all my life. And it’s what I love to do the most.”
Céline Dion ‘Grateful for Love’ as she poses with all three sons on Stiff Person Syndrome Awareness Day
The condition, according to the Stiff Person Syndrome Foundation, affects the central nervous system, specifically the brain and spinal cord. “Patients can be disabled, confined to a wheelchair or bed, unable to work and care for themselves,” they say, adding that neurological disease with autoimmune features can include symptoms such as “hyperrigidity, debilitating pain, chronic anxiety,” and seizures. muscles “so strong they can dislocate joints and even break bones.”
Kotb, 59, shared this with Dion: “At one point she wondered if she would make it, if she would survive.”
She continued: “She’s talking about what it did to her voice and being able to come back.”
Céline Dion is not sure when she will perform again — but she is ‘doing very well’: ‘My body will tell me’
“We missed her and it was a very emotional interview,” said Kotb, who traveled to Las Vegas to interview the five-time Grammy winner. “We’ll see where he is on his way back.”
Kotb’s interview with Dion airs Today and in an NBC News Primetime special on June 11, shortly before her documentary on Amazon Prime, I am: Celine Dionpremiere on June 25.
Céline Dion performs in 1996.
Pete Still/Redferns
In a preview of the documentary, Dion reaffirmed her commitment to returning to concerts, saying that she missed performing live.
“I miss him a lot,” Dion said. “People, I miss them. If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl.”
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Source: HIS Education