'I felt shame and guilt': Jamie-Lynn Sigler reveals she was advised to keep her MS a secret by an 'industry professional' when she was first diagnosed at 20

Jamie-Lynn Sigler has revealed she was advised to keep her MS a secret by an 'industry professional' when she was first diagnosed. 

The 34-year-old appeared on the Today Show on Wednesday to discuss her decision to go public with her condition. 

The former Sopranos star told Matt Lauer that a Hollywood heavyweight said her career would be affected if she made her disease known.

Candid: Jamie-Lynn Sigler told Matt Lauer that she was advised to keep her MS a secret by an 'industry professional' when she was first diagnosed

She said: 'I know they were looking out for me at the time but they said, "I'm going to pretend you didn't tell me that, and I don't think you should ever tell anyone that you have this disease, because people will limit you, people will judge you, and they won't hire you".

'And I took that advice. I was 20 years old and I was scared and I thought that was the best thing.'

Now, she feels 'relief' that she has shared her diagnosis and added: 'I have every intention of continuing my career.'

'Relief': The former Sopranos star said she feels a 'weight has been lifted' off her shoulders since sharing her condition 

She explained: 'I lived with this secret that caused me to have so many feelings of shame and guilt and fear for so many years, so I think to finally sort of feel like I'm claiming my power back and being confident with the person that I am, I feel a great weight off my shoulders.' 

Sigler was diagnosed with the neurological condition when she was just 20 years old.

The star was symptom-free for quite some time but has got progressively worse over the last decade.

She has tried a number of medications for the condition - which has no cure and affects the central nervous system - and her symptoms have been stable for the past six years thanks to taking a pill named Tecfidera twice a day.

Sigler tied the knot with baseball player Cutter Dykstra - with whom she has two-year-old son Beau - in a candlelit ceremony at the Parker Palm Springs hotel in Palm Springs, California, on January 16. 

Support: Sigler with her new husband Cutter Dykstra and their son Beau on January 21

  

 

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