Derek Hough found it 'difficult' to watch Celine Dion documentary

28 June 2024

Derek Hough found it difficult to watch the 'I Am: Celine Dion' documentary.

Derek Hough found it 'difficult' to watch Celine Dion documentary [Instagram]

The 39-year-old professional dancer watched the show with his wife Hayley Erbert, 29, but admitted it was hard to see Celine's battle with Stiff Person Syndrome, particularly her seizures, as it reminded him of Hayley's health issues last year when she suffered a cranial hematoma from a burst blood vessel and required an emergency craniectomy.

He shared a video on Instagram of the couple meeting Celine and wrote: "Watched Celine Dion’s new documentary, 'I Am Celine', last night.

"We were lucky enough to meet her a couple of years ago, even sing and dance with her a little. Haha

"She’s a firecracker, we were so nervous meeting the queen. Especially Hayley who is a diehard fan.

"The documentary was incredibly powerful, showing Celine’s struggles with SPS but also her quirky and fun side.

"A very difficult scene was seeing one of Celine’s SPS seizures play out in real time. It was so hard to watch seeing 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 re-watch.

"Celine is an absolute legend, with a unique and one in a billion voice. We’re so blessed to witness her talent in our lifetime. I pray she heals and returns to the stage she loves so much."

Celine, 56, announced in 2022 that she had been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome.

SPS is a rare, chronic neurological disorder that causes muscle stiffness and painful muscle spasms.

Irene Taylor, director of the new documentary, recently spoke about the decision to include footage of Celine's seizures in the show.

She told the New York Times newspaper: "I could just see this stiffness that was not like the flowing, lithe dancer that I had been filming for several months doing her physical therapy. Within a couple of minutes, she was moaning in pain.

"I wanted to know if she was breathing, because she was moaning and then she stopped. I put the microphone, which was at the end of a pole you can discreetly put closer to your subject, underneath the table. I couldn’t hear her breathing.

"I was very panicked. I was looking around the room, and I saw that her therapist called for her head of security. Her bodyguard immediately came into the room. I could see right away these two men were there to take care of her and they were trained to do it.

"Probably within about three minutes, once this human response to want to be helpful and drop everything subsided, Nick [Midwig, the film’s director of photography] and I eased into filming everything as it happened. It was very uncomfortable. I’ve never been in a situation with a camera that has been that touch and go."