9 celebrities with multiple sclerosis who have opened up about the disease

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a life-changing diagnosis that can take years to detect. Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world, with an estimated 90,000 people currently living with the disease and approximately 12 new cases diagnosed each day.

For people with MS, their immune system targets the protective layer (myelin) that surrounds nerves including those in the brain and spinal cord. Permanent nerve damage or deterioration can occur over time, and can potentially lead to people losing mobility and impact speech.

There are different types of MS and while the causes are unknown, the disorder does tend to impact more women than men; in Canada, 75 per cent of MS cases are women.

There are many public figures living with MS who have come forward with their stories to help raise awareness for the disease.

Keep reading to learn more about their stories in honour of May being MS Awareness Month.

Christina Applegate

Although she was diagnosed with MS in 2021, the "Dead to Me" actress said her symptoms began several years ago. In an interview with The New York Times, the 52-year-old said she could remember feeling unbalanced while filming a dance scene and can remember her tennis skills slipping.

Applegate has said that MS has caused her to develop mobility issues, hypothyroidism and cold sores and that she has 30 lesions on her brain that cause her constant pain.

“I’m isolating and that’s kind of how I’m dealing with it is by not going anywhere because I don’t want to do it. It’s hard,” Applegate told ABC News. “(MS) can be very lonely because it’s hard to explain to people. I’m in excruciating pain, but I’m just used to it now.”

Earlier this year, the former "Married With Children" star and actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who also lives with MS, announced they were starting their own podcast "MeSsy" to discuss living with the illness.

"She’s the only person who really knows me,” Applegate told People about Sigler. “I can talk about anything with her. ... We would talk on the phone for hours, laughing and crying. And then we were like, ‘This is helping us. Let’s record this.’”

Jamie-Lynn Sigler

The "Sopranos" star was 20-years-old when she was diagnosed with MS. She kept her diagnosis a secret for 15 years because she was told that revealing it would damage her career.

“It was probably the most surreal moment of my life,” Sigler said in a 2019 essay for Shondaland. “I knew nothing about the disease, to be honest. I fortunately had a doctor who told me right away that as long as I stayed on treatment, there was no reason I couldn’t live a full life.”

Sigler lives with relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS), which means she goes through periods where her symptoms are worsened. Sigler said at the time of her diagnosis she would experience pins and needles feelings in her extremities and some mobility issues.

“(MS has) definitely taken a lot from me: my ability to run, dance, jump, wear high heels,” she said, adding that she takes medication to help control her bladder and walks with a limp.

Sigler is now an active part of the MS community and received the Medal of Hope Award at the 2017 Race to Erase MS Gala.

"My main focus of every day when I was at work was how do I get through this day without anybody knowing that I have MS? And you can only imagine how exhausting that was, but also took all the joy out of my job," Sigler told People in 2023.

"Being able to accept that MS is part of my life but that it doesn't define me, and it doesn't take away my talents or my value as a human being and as an actress took some time to process but I am proud that I've been able to kind of come out on the other side of that," she said.

Selma Blair

Selma Blair received her MS diagnosis in 2018 after spending years in pain.

The "Cruel Intentions" actress experienced an eight-month-long MS flare up which made it difficult for her to feel her legs and move her body and left her feeling extremely fatigued. Blair received a stem cell transplant and chemotherapy in 2019 which she said helped her feel "like a new person."

"My version of MS really screws with my mind," Blair told People in 2021. "It's triggered by my own emotions and fears, adrenaline, as well as lights and sounds. I am working on those things. If you see me start to shake, it means my nerves got big. Getting into a ball for a minute and resetting myself helps. Or I'll jump into the cold pool and swim."

In 2022, Blair appeared on season 31 of "Dancing with the Stars." After several performances, she departed the show due to concerns related to her illness.

“You know, this wasn’t a death sentence for me. We all have a death sentence somewhere written in the stars," Blair told The Observer in 2022. "And hopefully, we will all learn to live our lives before that death sentence starts.”

Jack Osbourne

Jack Osbourne, television personality and son of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, was diagnosed with MS in 2012 at the age of 26.

Only a few weeks after the birth of his daughter, Osbourne experienced numbness in his leg and problems with his vision — key warning signs of MS.

"MS is not a death sentence, ultimately,'' Osbourne told TODAY in 2017 . "Not anymore. There's hope, there's absolutely hope."

Osbourne said he views the diagnosis as "a huge silver lining" and does his best to take advantage of every moment.

"I hate wasting days. I'm always doing something and trying to accomplish something, whether it's work, something social or doing something active. So for that, I'm appreciative of it," he said.

Osbourne has since become an MS advocate and released a web series called "You Don't Know Jack About MS" to discuss common misconceptions about the disease.

Montel Williams

During the first several years of his 17-season tenure as host of "The Montel Williams Show," Williams spent much of his time in pain, not knowing that his struggle was due to MS. He received his diagnosis in 1999 at age 43 and has become a vocal MS advocate.

“I went to see a doctor, and he told my ex-wife, ‘he looks like he has MS.’ That was on a Friday. On Saturday, he said to me, ‘you have MS.’ I had no idea what MS was. No one had ever used those words to me before," Williams said in 2020 at an event sponsored by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of America.

Williams said the initial prognosis was grim, and he was told he would most likely require a wheelchair within four years. The former TV host said he has learned to cope with his diagnosis and connect with others who live with the disorder and is a strong supporter of medicinal marijuana, which he says has been key to his ability to manage the disease.

“Every single one of us who has this disease suffers differently. It was so important to have my family stand with me and help me in those times when I felt my journey was about to end," he said.

Art Alexakis

Art Alexakis, lead singer of Everclear, didn't know he was suffering from MS until he was in a car accident in 2017.

Two weeks later, the then 55-year-old felt a strange sensation in his arm sent him back to the doctor, where an MRI revealed that he had MS.

"I went out to the car and called my wife and cried for the first time in a long time. I cry during movies but we’re talking about weeping. Men don’t weep. When I heard 'multiple sclerosis,' I’d heard the phrase but didn’t know what it was. It felt like a death sentence. It sounded like cancer," Alexakis told Rolling Stone in 2019.

"I’ve always had a weird gait. But I can’t run anymore because I’ll trip over my feet. One of my main forms of exercise now is swimming. It’s good for people with auto-immune disease. You’re not supposed to get overly cold or heated, so swimming is good for that," he said.

He originally kept his diagnosis private, but he ultimately decided to share it because he wanted to encourage people experiencing symptoms to see their doctors.

"In my life, nothing comes easy. I’m gonna get my ass kicked. I’ve gotten used to it. And without sounding like a Hallmark card, it really is not about how many times you get knocked down but how you pick yourself up," Alexakis said.

Emma Caulfield Ford

Emma Caulfield Ford initially chose to keep her diagnosis a secret out of concerns it would impact her career.

The "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "WandaVision" told People earlier this year that her MS symptoms are mild and she does not currently take medication.

“I’m very, very fortunate,” the 50-year-old said. “But I’m also aware that, with MS, this could all change tomorrow.”

Caulfield Ford was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis while she was on set in 2010. The actress aid she originally thought she had a pinched nerve from yoga and was sent for an MRI.

“I was kind of out of my body,” she said, noting that her father also had MS. “I’d just gotten this devastating news, and they’re like, ‘We’re ready for you on-set.’ So I sucked it up and put on a good face. It was surreal.”

It wasn't until Caulfield Ford began feeling dizzy on set while filming the Marvel TV series "WandaVision" that she realized she needed to let others know about her diagnosis. The actress told. her friend and "WandaVision" creator Jac Schaeffer.

"I was like, ‘I can’t be afraid anymore. I have to tell the truth. It’s not good for my health,’” recalled Caulfield Ford. “She was so kind and sweet. She was like, ‘First of all, I feel horrible that you went through that, and we didn’t help you.’ Every- one was incredibly supportive.”

Teri Garr

"Tootsie" actress Teri Garr was formally diagnosed with MS in 1999 but began experiencing symptoms in 1983.

"It started in 1983. I was living in New York and I'd go jogging in Central Park, and I'd start tripping," she told Brain & Life in 2005. "I'd notice that the more I ran and got my body heated up, the weaker I'd get. But then it'd go away, and it went away for about ten years. And then it started up again, and I started getting stabbing pains in my arm when I ran. But I figured hey, I'm in Central Park, maybe I am being stabbed."

The "Mr. Mom" and "Young Frankenstein" star maintained an upbeat attitude about her diagnosis but did admit that there were aspects that were difficult to accept.

"I've always considered myself such an independent person, and you have to start asking for help. That's a hard one for me," she said. "Letting people open doors for you and carry suitcases takes some getting used to. If I make that tradeoff, I know I'll have a little more energy for something else, something more important. But it's hard to give up that control."

Garr retired from acting in 2011 and at 79, continues to support MS charities.

Rachel Miner

Actress Rachel Miner is a familiar face to sci-fi and soap opera fans alike, but her onscreen appearances have been limited in recent years due to her MS diagnosis.

The former "Guiding Light" actress was diagnosed with MS in 2010 after telling her doctor about the numbness in her limbs.

" I went for an MRI, and it was obvious from my first MRI. So I'm one of the lucky ones, where it wasn't a long, protracted, trying to figure out what it was. But I think I also covered my symptoms for maybe about a year, year and a half. I just kept kind of like ... keep trucking, I'll figure this out, didn't know what was going on," she told Health Digest in 2022.

Miner, who appeared in films like "The Butterfly Effect" and the TV series "Smallville" said she avoided acting roles because of her MS.

"I shied away from work for a long time, because it just was very painful to me to not be able to pull off what I wanted to, and to feel like a problem to people in any way. So that was very difficult, so I didn't work for a long time," she said.

The actress said she was hard on herself but has learned to honour her body's physical limitations.

"I could push through and actually totally debilitate myself, and not be able to walk for a day. ... It's a lot more of almost a maternal instinct toward yourself and your own body," she said. "A loving, caring, forgiving attitude that is really needed to make it through the day, I find."

Since then, she has become the executive director of the charitable organization Random Acts advocating for MS awareness and accessibility on set.

The bottom line

Although MS is incurable and can be debilitating, treatments offer an element of hope.

As many of these celebrities have shown, it is possible to not only survive, but thrive in the face of a MS diagnosis.

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