Jamie-Lynn Sigler has revealed that she stepped away from Hollywood in search of greater privacy while managing her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS).
“We needed a change,” she told Us Weekly in a new interview, reflecting on her family’s move to Austin, Texas, five years ago.
The Sopranos alum also shared that the move gave her a sense of freedom, explaining, “When I moved here, I started using a cane once in a while because I didn’t feel like I was being watched.”
The Sopranos alum Jamie-Lynn Sigler told Us Weekly that she left Hollywood for Austin, Texas, seeking more privacy as she continues her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The actress, seen above in The Sopranos, said she appreciated being able to use her cane in public without feeling self-conscious after moving to Texas.
Sigler, who shares two sons with husband Cutter Dykstra, said life in Austin has also given her a sense of normalcy, noting that she feels like she’s “just Beau and Jack’s mom at the baseball field.”
The couple relocated from California to Texas with their sons Beau, 12, and Jack, 8, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
In a 2022 interview with People, Sigler described feeling “disconnected, in the best way I’ve ever known” since settling in Texas.
She also praised the lifestyle change, adding, “It’s all about outdoors and nature, which I really appreciate since I never had it growing up in New York and LA.”
“I didn’t feel like I was being watched,” Sigler said (pictured above with her husband Cutter Dykstra).
Sigler moved to Texas with her husband and two sons, Beau (pictured above) and Jack, in 2021.
At the time, she also said her children were “thriving” and “not holed up on screens as much anymore.”
Sigler was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 20 but did not publicly reveal her condition until 2016, when she was 34.
In a recent Us Weekly interview promoting her upcoming memoir, And So It Is…: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope (out May 5), Sigler reflected on the emotional toll of keeping her MS private for years.
“I was always acting. I had no idea what authenticity felt like,” she said. “Everything was a lie and for show. I didn’t even know who I was.”
Sigler (seen above) told Us Weekly that she felt like she was “living a lie” while keeping her multiple sclerosis diagnosis private for 14 years.
Sigler (pictured above with son Beau) said she felt “suffocated” before publicly revealing her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2016.
She explained that keeping her condition hidden for years took a toll, saying her “secrets had piled up” and she felt like she was “suffocating.”
“I was constantly in fight or flight and survival mode. I’m sure that it contributed to a lot of the flare-ups I experienced,” she added.
The Entourage actress also credited her podcast co-host Christina Applegate, who also lives with MS, for helping her cope more openly with the realities of the illness.
“I give Christina all the credit for being like, ‘Yeah, we have to wear diapers sometimes,’” Sigler told the outlet. “That was always, like, God forbid anybody would have known [that].”
Sigler (pictured above with her husband) is now openly sharing her experience living with multiple sclerosis (MS).
She also co-hosts a podcast with Christina Applegate (both pictured above), where the pair discuss their experiences living with MS.
“There’s still such shame about it,” she said.
Sigler and Applegate, 54, share their stories on the MeSsy podcast, which debuted in 2024.
The Dead to Me actress was recently hospitalized but later shared in a health update that she is “feeling better every day.”
