Celebrities With Celiac?

[Guest Addicted2Gluten]

I believe, not exactly positive, that Dannii Minogue has gluten intolerance. In the past, I remember her mentioning that she eats a gluten free, dairy free diet because she has a lot of "food allergies." So, it could be celiac disease. I'll have to look into it. In case you don't know who Dannii Minogue is (If you live in the US then you might not know otherwise you probably do.) she is a pop star/actress/model and is also Kylie Minogue's younger sister.

I also remember hearing awhile back about other celebrities with Celiac Disease, but I'll have to look into that, as well. It would be great if a celebrity had it so that they could raise awareness of it, but it looks like we are going to all have to try to be famous and do the job ourselves, lol.

[judy04]

Hi,

I recently saw Barbara Bush doing a spot about Chron's disease,

She said her son Marvin had been diagnosed with it, "W"'s brother...

[dana-g]

There has been mention of Dr. Phil's wife being gluten-free for one reason or another,not necessarily because of celiac disease, but no one seems to know for sure. Next week they are doing show in which she cooks for him...maybe the subject will come up? I'll try to watch--if anybody out there watches the show, let us know.

[angel-jd1]

I was reading an article the other day in some "celeb" magazine and Elizabeth Hasselback was being written about. They asked her a fill in the blank question "I will eat oysters, but I won't eat________", to which she responded "WHEAT, because I have an allergy to it!" SO I guess hers in not celiac,but instead a wheat allergy.

-Jessica

[tom]

Surprised no one mentioned Billy Bob Thornton !!

[debmidge]

Tom

What do you know about Billy Bob that we don't know?

[Thomas]

I do not think Billy Bob Thorton has celiac

[dana-g]

Wow, with all the restrictions we have on our diet, it seems nutty to me that somebody would voluntarily avoid foods because they were scared of their...color!!!

[celiac3270]

Another celebrity? From Open Original Shared Link

March 31, 2005

As Seen On TV!

So, my adrenaline is still pumping from my experience Tuesday. I have to explain first that after we started CeliacChicks.com in August 2003 someone informed us that when Elisabeth Hasselbeck of The View first introduced herself she said something about not eating gluten. This report was confirmed by a few others. I for some reason signed up for tickets to the show only to forget about it. About a month ago,(which was over one year later) to my surprise, two tickets came in the mail!!! So, Kim couldn't make it but our honorary Celiac Chick, Lydia, accompanied me. I brought along one of our tshirts (available soon online) as a gift not really knowing how the heck I'd ever get it to Elisabeth, but just in case! The real mission though was to try to either confirm or debunk the urban legend of a celiac celeb.

Kelly & Lydia with The View set in the background

After we found our seats I asked a nearby studio employee how I would go about getting the gift to her. I was flatly refused no doubt due to past crazy fans making demands. So, I was totally disappointed thinking the whole plan was in vain. During one of the commercial breaks Barbara Walters came to our section and chatted it up with the group. Elisabeth remained seated most of the time being that she is almost due with her first baby. I was so frustrated!

We waited patiently through an interview with Bo Derek, Jeff Goldblum, and then a Real Simple editor showing all the amazing household uses for lemon juice. Then at the very end, after they were finished taping, Barbara said to the crowd, "Are there any questions? We're open to taking questions now." This was my chance!! I waved my arm frantically. Some lady was chosen and just gushed at how amazing they were. Then Barbara asked again, "Are there any questions we can answer?" I waved my arm again. Joy Behar pointed at ME! So I stood up and asked Elisabeth, "Is it true you follow a gluten-free diet?" I didn't want to say "celiac disease" since it doesn't really add to the Hollywood image and I could understand someone in showbiz avoiding that term. I guess since they are used to foofy questions they all didn't hear correctly the word gluten so almost in unison all five of them said, "What?" I tried another approach, "Do you not eat gluten?" And she nodded her head and said, "YES. That is true- you too?" So, I then said, "Yes, and I'd like to let you know about a resource called CeliacChicks.com that tells you where to find gluten-free food in the NY area. " She was so nice and enthusiastic ," OH thank you so much!! I'll be sure to check it out soon!!" So then I pointed to my tshirt I was wearing and announced that we brought one for her as a gift. She said, "Oh ...thank you so much...I'll be sure to send someone out in the audience to get it from you...Thank You! " I could see Star Jones stand in say to her, "What's that?" and she started to explain , "It's like an allergy..." Who knows? Maybe it was the topic of conversation back stage. Most importantly, I wrote a little note that if she ever wanted to help Columbia University's Celiac Disease Center or the NFCA that I could hook her up. Not that she needs my help!

So, that's the scoop. The Celiac Celeb rumor is true. Well, at least the part about her not eating gluten!

Posted by Kelly | Permalink | Comments (0)

[Generic]

I read in an article (10+) years ago that Goldie Hawn is celiac or she at least follows a gluten free diet. Don't know for sure if it is true, though.

I can understand why celebs would say they have food allergies. I often say it as well. It's allot easier to explain to a waitress that you are allergic to wheat than try and explain celiac to them. I have even gotten responses like "oh, well do you want white bread instead?"

[judy05]

I think Keith Olberman, a newsperson on MSNBC at night, has Celiac Sprue, perhaps a letter writing campaign to him would help. I like him especially the way he ends his show, he throws away his paper and you hear glass breaking. His theme music is from Beethoven and I like that also..

[KaitiUSA]

Judy you are right ....I heard from numerous sources he does have celiac. Maybe that could alone get a segment on it..I wonder if he really follows the diet completely.

[mommida]

I think it would be a very difficult task to be a celebrity spokesperson for Celiac.

We keep hearing people saying things we know are not true about Celiac. i.e. "My (insert familarity here) had that Celiacs when they were little but they grew out of it."

The last year I have been on the diet the statistic of occurance keeps changing, 1 in 350, 1 in 250, 1in 133 Americans possibly have it undiagnosed.

To give out the list of symptoms, and then say or show no signs of these symptoms.

"So please go get tested", to have the doctor say "Silly Yak what?".

Then what if the ultimate insult for a performer... To be accused that your "disability not your talent" launched your career.

Laura

[SofiEmiMom]

My neighbor just told me today that two weeks ago she saw an episode of LIVE with Regis and Kelly and that Regis was saying how he now had to be on a diet where he couldn't eat anything with flour in it and how hard it is to not eat bread, pizza, etc. Anyone hear about that too? That's all she remembered, so hard to say if it's medical or voluntarily.

[Nadtorious]

I've read a few things about Posh Spice from the Spice Girls having a "wheat allergy". Other places say it's celiac though.

[beelzebubble]

some people thought that kurt cobain had celiac.

[Guest BellyTimber]

I thought Terence Stamp only puts his label on foods he himself can eat, and I've seen it on bread with rye and barley in it, I used to enjoy it in my wheat-free year before I went gluten-free.

I hope my memory isn't playing me tricks, it's not the right time of day to check in a shop in the UK, but there must be a reason why I can't eat it any more.

[mommida]

I saw an episode of Regis and Kelly where Kelly asked Regis if he could sample a cocktail. He definately has some type of special diet he follows.

L

[Gwendolene]

I think that for celebs, it is much simpler to say they have an "allergy" rather than a disease (esp. a rare/unknown one) since producers/directors start fearing sick days (which can cost a production several grand), or celebs may be afraid of being labeled a diva, whereas almost everyone understands a severe allergy.

[coeliacinfostand]

Wouldn't it be great if screening tests for coeliac disease could be done on all the politicians and their staff members in Washington!

[uclangel422]

In the calendar section of the LA Times today there was an article by Juliette Lewis regarding what would be her perfect weekend.

She stated that she would start off with a breakfast including Gluten-Free waffles. Nothing else in the article mentioned gluten-free but she might have celiac.

[jenvan]

huh, that would be a random request if one didn't have celiac ! i didn't even know about gluten much before I was diagnosed...

[uclangel422]

I had no idea what gluten was prior to this. I probably saw it all the time on things or on the internet and it never crossed my mind to ask what it was.

[LKelly8]

Thanks for sharing that link, it was interesting.  It says he succumbed to celiac disease.  I really don't understand how he died from it, unless he didn't stop eating gluten.  Can we die from this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Jumping back a few pages here - Joe C probably had refractory sprue, a form of celiac disease that does NOT respond to a gluten free diet. The immune system continues to attack the small intestine despite the absence of gluten.

It's treated with corticosteroids and immunosuppressive medications.

[elonwy]

I have worked in Film and TV for ten years. When a company shoots a movie or a TV show, in order to get insurance for the project the actors must have regular physicals. People with any chronic disorders, especially something like celiac, which can cause them to lose shooting days, are considered to be high-risk and either a show will not get bonded or the insurance will cost an arm and a leg. "Allergies" don't fall into this category, and you also get lucky ones like Micheal J. Fox, where a production makes special concession in order to work around disability.

When shooting a film, especially, you can lose a million dollars a day if your actor can't get there, and with TV, everything is on such a tight schedule that losing an hour causes stress.

So it a good chance that actors describe anything like that as an "allergy" becuase it makes it harder for them to get work.

Gotta love Hollywood!

Elonwy