Céline Dion is looking radiant as she heads toward a tentative comeback amid her battle with stiff-person syndrome.
The 56-year-old legend is showing it all off in a new photoshoot with Vogue France, feeling herself while she sports an unbuttoned white shirt and shorts. Another cover shows the GRAMMY-winner nearly exposed, only covering herself with a fluffy pink jacket.
The music icon revealed that she is "okay" and taking things "one day at a time" after she revealed that she was living with the devastating impairment in 2022. The "My Heart Will Go On" songstress says that she is learning to live with the incurable disease.
"I didn't fight the disease, it is still in me and forever. We will find, I hope, a miracle, a way to cure it with scientific research, but I must learn to live with it. So that's me, now with stiff person syndrome," she says in a translation of the French interview.
The health update also gives an insight as to how she is working to combat the illness. Dion shares a look inside the therapy she completes on a day-to-day basis, with hopes to eventually return to her former self.
"Five days a week I do athletic, physical and vocal therapy. I work on my toes as well as my knees, calves, fingers, singing, voice," she details about her new life with the illness. "You simply have to live it! I have this disease for some unknown reason. I have two choices. Either I train like an athlete and I work super hard or I disconnect and it's over. I stay at home, I listen to my songs, I stand in front of my mirror and I sing to myself. I chose to work with all my body and all my soul, from head to toe with a medical team."
The "Taking Chances" hitmaker realizes the privilege she has while working with a full medical team to combat the illness. She thanks her family, children, fans, and team for their love and support during the health scare.
"People who suffer from PRS may not have the chance or the means to have good doctors or good treatments. I have these means, I have this gift. Plus, I have this strength in me. I know nothing is going to stop me."
While she still has the "passion" and "dream" to get back out on the road, she cannot confirm if she will be able to sustain another rigorous tour. After she recently stated that she was "determined" to perform again, she still does not have a definite timeline of when she might make her performance comeback.
"I can't answer you," she responded when asked about a potential return to the stage. "Because for four years, I told myself that I would not go back, that I am ready, that I am not ready... Today, I cannot tell you: "Yes, in four months." I don't know... My body will tell me. On the other hand, I don't want to just wait. It's morally hard to live from day to day."
Dion goes on to say that while she works towards making her resurgence, she is learning to embrace the beauty inside and surrounding her, encouraging others to do the same.
"I am very proud that at 55, I am asked to reveal my beauty. But what is beauty? Beauty is you, it's me, it's the inside, it's our dreams, it's today. Beauty is what surrounds us, it is there. There are people who see it. There are those who watch it. Today, I am a woman who feels very strong to move forward. One day at a time."
