Canadian singer, Celine Dion, has disclosed that she has been battling with Stiff Person Syndrome for 17 years before revealing it to the public.

Naija News reports that the ‘Think Twice’ crooner made the revelation in an interview with Hoda Kotb on the Today Show this week.

The singer revealed that she was secretly battling the illness while managing her late husband, Rene Angelil’s cancer battle and raising their children.

According to the 56-year-old singer, who first opened up about her ailment in 2022, she had been experiencing symptoms way back in 2008 but was holding on to her dreams.

Celine Dion explained that she eventually spoke about her illness because keeping it from “the people who got her to where she was” was a huge “burden”.

She said, “We did not know what was going on [with me]. 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.

“I had to raise my kids, I had to hide, I had to try to be a hero – while feeling my body leaving me, ‘[I was] holding on to my own dreams.”

Meanwhile, Celine Dion recently stated that her Stiff Person Syndrome feels like she is ‘being strangled,’ adding she often suffers from cramps and even has broken some ribs.