TV shows and celebrities for the heart

This month, let’s feature two celebrities who are active in the battle against heart disease – Go for Red Women celebrities Toni Braxton and Marie Osmond.

Toni Braxton

Let’s welcome back Toni Braxton. She has been featured in this blog before but I think she deserves the honor once again. After all, Toni Braxton is not only a Grammy-award winning musical artist, she is also a heart disease survivor and spokeswoman for the American Heart Association’s Go for Red Women since 2005. If you are a big fan of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, then watch out for Toni. She will be dancing her heart out while battling heart disease and stroke like many of us.

Toni is the voice behind the hits “Unbreak my Heart” and “Another Sad Song”. However, she was on a 6-month hiatus from the entertainment industry when she was hospitalized for chest pains in April. You see, Toni is suffering from pericarditis,

“…a disorder caused by inflammation of the pericardium, which is the sac-like covering around the heart. [It] is usually a complication of viral infections… and most often affects men aged 20-50, usually following respiratory infections.” (Source: Medline Medical Encyclopedia).

Toni’s bio at Dancing with the Stars reads:

The winner of six Grammy Awards, Toni Braxton is a Billboard chart-topping singer and actress, selling over forty million records worldwide. Her U.S. number-one hit “Un-Break My Heart” is the second biggest single by a female artist in history. She has also appeared in two Disney Broadway shows: Beauty and the Beast and Aida. Dancing with the Stars marks her return to the spotlight after a six-month health hiatus.

According to Toni

“I am dancing to celebrate my own triumph over heart disease and raise the consciousness of America’s women that they have the power to beat our number one killer. We have the power to choose life.”

Dancing with the Stars is a TV series at ABC (Mondays and Tuesdays at 8/7 p.m. Central). Each week, several pairs compete in performing ballroom dancing routines. Each pair usually consists of a celebrity and a ballroom professional. Winning is based on points given by judges as well as votes by viewers. Voting can be done by SMS, TV-text, or over the Internet. Check out how to vote for Toni here.

This is Dancing with the Stars’ seventh season. Toni will be dancing will Alec Mazo, a former champion at the series.

Marie Osmond

Another Go for Red Women celebrity spokesperson is Marie Osmond. Marie was part of the family musical group The Osmonds and co-hosted with her brother The Donny & Marie show. She will be one of the ladies featured in the NBC TV special Untold Stories of the Heart, a series supported by the Go for Red Women of the American Heart Association.

After losing her mother and grandmother to heart disease, the legendary entertainer was inspired to reduce her personal risk and spread awareness.

Marie also competed at Dancing with the Stars on its 5^th season in November last year. She won third place at the finals. Hear Marie tell her story in video clips on the Go for Red site or tune in to the show. Check the Untold Stories of the Heart schedule here.

Photo credits:

Foxy Brown Online downloaded at www.tonibraxtonweb.org/index.php

www.marieosmond.com