Selma Blair recalls moment she knew she was sick before multiple sclerosis diagnosis

Selma Blair has spoken candidly about the moment she knew that she was sick as she continues to publicly share her struggle with multiple sclerosis.

In an interview with Variety, the Legally Blonde star, who was diagnosed with MS in August 2018, recalled how, after years of “mysterious symptoms”, she knew that something was wrong when her leg gave out while she was walking in a Christian Siriano show in February 2018.

According to Blair, it was at that moment she realised the symptoms weren’t psychosomatic, because she was so happy to be in the show.

“I’m on the catwalk and wanting to be the sh*t – I love this moment!” the actor told Variety, which noted that, a few months later, Blair’s hands “basically stopped working”.

This is not the first time that Blair, who ​​documents her health struggles in the upcoming Discovery+ documentary Introducing, Selma Blair, has spoken publicly about the moment during the fashion show, as she previously told Town & Country that she knew something was wrong when she was on the catwalk and noticed a loss of sensation in her leg.

“It was on that runway, with the thrill of walking in the show, that I suddenly lost feeling in my left leg,” the Cruel Intentions star said. “But I was on a runway and thinking: ‘What do I do?’”

Blair, who publicly shared her diagnosis with MS in October 2018, also previously reflected on the experience in February on Instagram, where she frequently shares candid health updates with her followers.

“Three years ago. My dearest two pals came to watch the Siriano show. I walked that day. In the show. Noticing for the first time, my leg was numb. When I first stepped out. I couldn’t feel the ground or how to lift my left leg,” she captioned photos from the night of the runway show. “My brain was trying to compute. As I walked the runway, stunned. It hardly dampened my day though.”

While Blair’s struggle was just beginning, she told Variety that it was a relief to finally receive the MS diagnosis, before noting that she would have been easier on herself if she had known the cause of her symptoms earlier.

“If I could have acknowledged that there was something real – a label that people understood – it would have just helped me emotionally,” she said. “If I could have found this label and given myself some solace that I was actually a f***ing trouper, I would have been much easier on myself.”

Elsewhere in the interview, she acknowledged that she used to compare herself to other people, but didn’t realise that it wasn’t normal to “hurt every day”.

“I’d compare myself to people. I didn’t understand people didn’t hurt every day,” she said, adding: “I’ve hurt since I can remember.”

In a clip of the upcoming documentary shared byVanity Fair in August, Blair recalled how she’d been told to “make plans for dying” as she underwent various medical procedures, such as a stem cell transplant, to treat the disease.

“I was told to make plans for dying, not because I have MS, cause I’m fighting MS,” she said in the trailer.

However, last month, Blair shared positive news about her battle with the disease, with the actor revealing that she is in remission and her “prognosis is great” after the stem cell transplant was successful.

Introducing, Selma Blair will begin streaming on Discovery+ on 21 October.