Derek Hough is showing Celine Dion a little love when detailing a particularly hard-to-watch aspect of his new documentary, I am: Celine Dion.
O Dancing with the stars The judge and professional dancer, 39, took to Instagram on Thursday to share a video of a time when he and his wife, Hayley Erberthad the chance to meet Dion, 56, before a show.
“I watched the new Celine Dion documentary…last night,” Hough wrote. “We were lucky enough to meet her a few years ago, we even sang and danced a little with her. Haha. She’s a firecracker.”
“We were so nervous meeting the queen,” he continued. “Especially Hayley, who is a die-hard fan.”
As for the documentary, the film details the icon’s life and career – as well as her painful battle with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare autoimmune disease. The doctor doesn’t hesitate to show Dion’s new reality with her illness as she struggles to live and act as usual, but is occasionally sidelined by frightening seizures.
“The documentary was incredibly powerful, showing Celine’s struggles with SPS but also her quirky and fun side,” Hough wrote. “One really difficult scene was seeing one of Celine’s SPS seizures happening in real time. It was so hard to see her in pain like that. It also reminded me of Hayley’s seizure on the side of the stage a few months ago. I could barely watch it again.”
Erbert was hospitalized for a cranial hematoma on December 6 after she became “disoriented” during a performance on the couple’s show Spectacular Dance Symphony Tour It is required an emergency craniectomy.
Derek’s Symphony of Dance tour officially wrapped in San Diego, California on May 19. The 29-year-old dancer made his triumphant return to the stage to complete her tour in April and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
“Celine is an absolute legend, with a unique, one-in-a-billion voice,” Hough concluded in her post. “We are so blessed to witness her talent in our lifetime. I pray she heals and returns to the stage she loves so much.”
During one moment in the doc, Dion is paralyzed for several minutes as she suffers a full-body seizure following a medical evaluation. According to the Mayo clinicStiff Person Syndrome is “a rare disorder of motor function characterized by involuntary rigidity of the axial muscles and superimposed painful muscle spasms, which are often induced by startle or emotional stimuli.”
Since announcing her SPS diagnosis, Dion has been open with fans about how the condition has affected her life and career — and effusive in her thanks for their support every step of the way.
She was forced to cancel your Courage World Tourwhich resumed in 2022 after a pause due to COVID, but she has made several public appearances in recent months, including a surprise moment on stage at the 2024 GRAMMYs and on several trips to hockey games with your kids — René-Charles, 23, and 13-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy.
About that, ET spoke with Hough in Februarywhile Erbert — to whom Hough got married in August just months before his hospitalization – was still recovering and praised his wife for her inspiring spirit.
“She’s doing great,” he said. “She really is. I can’t say enough, I really can’t, how inspiring she is.”
He added, “She’s getting better every day. There’s still some things we need to work out, but even now, when I look at where we were just a few months ago and where she is now, it’s miraculous. It really is.”
“It’s amazing to see the way she handled everything with such grace and strength,” Derek said. “That’s just her nature. I was really in awe of it. It was incredible.”
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