On Thursday (31 July), Justin Timberlake left fans shocked when he revealed he had been diagnosed with a bacterial infection that a number of other celebrities have suffered from.
In a lengthy and emotional Instagram statement, the singer said that living with the disease can be ‘relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically’.
Timberlake, 44, said he was ‘shocked’ to hear the diagnosis, but it explained the ‘massive amount of nerve pain’ he was feeling and ‘crazy fatigue and sickness’.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 476,000 people are diagnosed and treated for this illness each year in the United States.
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But it seems like a high proportion of them are famous people, as a horde of household names have opened up on their experiences in the past few years.
The bacterial infection spreads to humans through infected ticks - and it seems that more and more celebrities are being diagnosed.
We’re talking about Lyme disease - and these are the celebrities who have suffered from it…
Justin Bieber
In 2019, Justin Bieber, aged 25, announced that he'd been diagnosed with Lyme disease.
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It came after brutal allegations from the public who were concerned for his wellbeing and accused him of crime and drug-taking.
Addressing the speculation, Bieber wrote in an Instagram post: "While a lot of people kept saying Justin Bieber looks like s**t, on meth etc. they failed to realize I’ve been recently diagnosed with Lyme disease, not only that but had a serious case of chronic mono which affected my, skin, brain function, energy, and overall health."
The star admitted: "It's been a rough couple years but [I’m] getting the right treatment that will help treat this so far incurable disease and I will be back and better than ever."
Shania Twain
Shania Twain is another celebrity who has been extremely candid about her health struggles.
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The music legend contracted Lyme disease in 2003 after being bitten by a tick while horseback riding.
Although she was treated shortly after developing the illness, she said the disease's impact on her vocal cords went undiagnosed for years.
During a 2020 appearance on The View, Twain said: "There were seven years where I could not, for example, yell out for my dog. My voice would just cut out in certain places.
"It took another several years to determine what it was. ... Nobody connected the Lyme disease to it. In the end, a neurologist finally worked out that it was the nerve to each vocal cord."
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And speaking about her diagnosis in her 2023 Netflix documentary Not Just A Girl, she revealed: "My symptoms were quite scary because before I was diagnosed, I was on stage very dizzy.
"I was losing my balance, I was afraid I was gonna fall off the stage… I was having these very, very, very millisecond blackouts, but regularly, every minute or every 30 seconds."
Miranda Hart
Miranda Hart revealed that she was ‘housebound’ for years after she contracted the tick-borne illness as a teenager, and chronic fatigue that was caused by it.
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It took 33 years for the comedian to receive a diagnosis after she was initially told she was agoraphobic.
In an interview with The Times, Hart said: "I lost my joy and know that I hadn’t enjoyed my career in the way that I knew I could have if I hadn’t been ill.
"I was housebound and bedbound for years. I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have a social life. I didn’t have any responsibilities or identities."
Amy Schumer
Amy Schumer revealed her Lyme disease diagnosis on her Instagram Story back in 2020, asking her followers for advice.
She asked: "Anyone get LYME this summer?
"I got it and I’m on doxycycline. I have maybe had it for years. Any advice? Can you have a glass of wine or 2 on it?"
Schumer added: "I want to say that I feel good and am excited to get rid of it."
Bella Hadid
Bella Hadid and her mother, Yolanda Hadid, were both diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2012, when the model was just 16 years old.
She still lives with the disease and in 2020 shared the symptoms she suffers from, including sensitivity to light and noise, thyroid dysfunction, inflammation, joint pain and numbness.
"It’s hard to take a shower most days, which I promise, guys, if you’re reading this, I shower every day," Hadid admitted.
"But sometimes, if I have one day off, if I can get in the shower and make myself breakfast, I see that as an accomplishment."
Ben Stiller
Night At The Museum star Ben Stiller is also on the list of celebrities who have unfortunately been diagnosed with the disease.
In a 2011 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, he said: "I got it in Nantucket, Massachusetts, a couple of years ago.
"My knee became inflamed and they couldn't figure out what it was, then they found out it was Lyme."
Stiller added: "I’m symptom-free now, but Lyme doesn’t ever leave your system. It’s a really tough thing."
Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin has also spoken publicly about his long-term struggle with Lyme disease after he was bitten by a tick more than 20 years ago.
In an interview with the New York Times, he explained: "I think twice that I had it, I got bit twice and I probably had it four times over five years where it came back at the exact same time."
The actor recalled: "August of one summer I was standing on my friend’s porch at night, and it was a cool evening - it wasn’t a hot steamy evening - and I felt literally this wave go over my back and over my shoulders and kind of wrap around me like a chill, and I got just attacked. It came like someone snapped their fingers and put a spell on me."
Baldwin has since explained that while the cold sweats somewhat subsided, he still battles 'inexplicable' joint pain and soreness on a daily basis.
Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Osbourne contracted Lyme disease after being bitten by a tick in 2004, but she wasn’t diagnosed until 2014.
Her dad Ozzy burned the tick off and she thought that would be the end of it.
Before Osbourne found out it was ‘stage 3 neurological Lyme disease’, she suffered from travelling pain for ten years, which ranged from stomachaches to a sore throat.
In her 2017 memoir, There Is No F*cking Secret, she wrote: "I was relieved to finally know what was going on. But I was also scared s**tless."
The star has since gone on to receive stem cell therapy, in the hope that the treatment will 'strengthen my immune system so my body could fight off and get rid of the disease on its own'.
Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2014 after suffering from fatigue and flu-like symptoms while out on tour.
She later claimed that she was left bed-bound for around two years.
As per The Independent, a letter published for her fans on her website in 2018, she recalled how these were ‘the worst years of [her life]’ and ‘the battle of a lifetime’.
Lavigne wrote: "I spent the last few years at home sick fighting Lyme disease.
"I felt like I was drowning. Like I was going underwater and I just needed to come up for air. Like I was in a river being pulled in a current. Unable to breathe."
She warned: "A single bug bite can f*** you up hard. People aren’t aware that Lyme must be treated almost immediately."
Topics: Lyme disease, Health, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Celebrity
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Madison Burgess