4 years since Céline spoke directly to the Quebec media.
It’s long. Too long.
• Read also: Here’s what Quebecers thought of Céline Dion’s only interview with a Quebec media outlet
• Read also: People didn’t recognize René-Charles on Celine Dion’s arm when she showed up as a surprise at the Grammys
While the documentary I am Celine Dion will be released on June 25 on Prime, the diva spoke “between Dion” with host and producer Jean-Philippe Dion.
The 20-minute interview was presented Sunday evening on TVA.
Here are 15 quotes to remember from this moving exchange:
1. “If I’m overstimulated, whether it’s happiness, or unhappiness, or something I’m not expecting, it can put me into a crisis episode. It’s not epileptic seizures, but it looks like it. We’re losing a little bit of information. I can not talk. Sometimes it’s very quickly, sometimes it’s longer.”
2. “I have panic buttons at home. My children, when I have episodes, they know what to do. You do that, you do that, you call that, you do that for mom, because I can’t talk.”
3. “[C’est moi qui aie voulu faire un documentaire] I decided not to let people say, through the newspapers, in front of children and the public, that I am dead.
4. “What I was going through, I had no diagnosis, I could no longer sing, walk, I stood on all the chairs in the house, the counters, it was not living, not dying, it was worse than That. It’s waiting… but for what…?”
5. “I think it’s been about 17 years [que je vis avec le syndrome de la personne raide (SPR)]. It’s difficult for me to tell you about 17 years of panic in a short interview.”
• Read also: Celine Dion already spoke about her health problems in 2008 in this Quebec documentary
• Read also: Celine Dion had her ribs broken due to spasms
6. “I had spasms when I sang. I had no answer. I’ve been around the world. I saw all the ENTs, it was always impeccable. No redness, no nodules, everything is perfect. There’s nothing I haven’t tried to do.”
7. “Panic set in there. It didn’t help. When you are nervous, or afraid, your body tenses up. And there, the nervousness, the worry, the stiffness…”
8. “I tried to build my own path, my own voice. And I forgot my name. I played at lying, hiding. I had sinusitis, tonsillitis, conjunctivitis… The years passed and I could no longer live with the lie. Towards the public, myself, the children… I could no longer lie to the fans. […] I couldn’t let them down.”
9. “Did anyone take care of you during that time? Not knowing what I had… people couldn’t take care of me. It wasn’t right…
10. “I should have lived through my mourning. I lost my husband, my brother, my mother, my father… But that’s not what gave me the SPR…. But you have to be human, I’m human, I’m not a robot.”
• Read also: The Dion family sings “Once upon a time there were happy people” and it’s a disaster
11. “Even if I am no longer able to sing, my greatest happiness is being a mother. If I have to be in a wheelchair, I’m going to be able to be a really good mother, and then I’m going to win the competition – she imitates someone who moves their wheelchair themselves – because it’s going to roll , it’s going to be “toast”! That’s for sure, there are always solutions.”
12. “Valiums and more. I have been up to the maximum and beyond the acceptable dose of medication. I could have stopped breathing, I could have died. I decided to stop all medication and be monitored. Because you can die if you stop. It went very well. On the other hand, by stopping everything, the disease advanced by two years. It’s as if the bug had taken two years ahead of me.”
13. “My return to the stage is going to happen. That’s why I work really hard. It will happen. I don’t have the exact date. Maybe I won’t do 5 days a week.”
14. “I’ve been in the dark, and you shouldn’t do that because you hurt yourself more, it makes you die a little faster.”
15. “I love you and I can’t wait to see you.”
The full interview is available here.
