Celine Dion: 'I Miss To Be Touched'

Celine Dion has been having such a good time lately that it’s somewhat unnerving to hear her talk about how she is still mourning her mentor-turned-husband René Angélil, who died in 2016.

But she is! In a Today show interview that ran Wednesday, she revealed that she still considers her decisions by wondering if Angélil would approve. She also said that she’s “not ready to date” and explained the void Angélil left as only she can:

I’m very lucky and happy to have so many people in my surrounding to make me — they make me laugh, but I miss to be touched. I miss to be hugged. I missed to be told, ‘You’re beautiful.’ I miss what a boyfriend and I miss what a husband would do.

“I miss to be touched” is such good Celinese, the product of her French-Canadian upbringing and speaking English for over 30 years. It’s idiosyncratic yet entirely intelligible and moving. Pure poetry.

Elsewhere in the interview her eyes rolled back in her head when she described how musical her children are.

When asked what about performing she loves, she replied, “I was born for this.” And then she sang Lady Gaga: “I was born this way.” And then, she mashed up her own words to the tune of “Born This Way”: “I was born for this.”

The interview ended triumphantly, with Dion proclaiming her mission, post-Angélil: “I have to prove to myself, to my children, to my team, to my fans that I’m fine. And I’m strong. And I feel great.” And it shows.