Celine Dion has given her first TV interview since her diagnosis of Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS) in 2022, detailing the toll it’s taken on her life in NBC News’ hourlong special “Celine’s Story” with Hoda Kotb.
In the emotional interview, which aired this evening and will be available to stream on Peacock tomorrow, the singer goes into detail about the struggles she’s faced over the years, from when she first began experiencing symptoms to how a prescription for Valium to deal with them could have been fatal.
She recalls that she was prescribed Valium to cope with her muscle spasms and stiffness before receiving her SPS diagnosis in 2022. Dion, who was taking Valium so she could perform, gradually built a tolerance and at one point was taking 90 milligrams a day — far beyond the maximum recommended dosage of 40 milligrams. “I did not know honestly that it could kill me,” she says. “Ninety milligrams of Valium can kill you, you can stop breathing. And at one point, the thing is that my body got used to it at 20 and 30 and 40 until it went up. And I needed that, it was relaxing my whole body for what, for two weeks, for a month, OK the show must go on. Here we go, I’m fine. But you get used to it, it doesn’t work anymore. More, more, more.”
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