When Loni Anderson's daughter, Deidra Hoffman, started noticing strange symptoms — fingers going numb one day, a tingling sensation in her spine the next — the actress couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of worry. For Deidra, who was a busy mom juggling the lives of her two teenage daughters at the time, these symptoms were initially shrugged off as mere stress. However, an MRI in 2009 delivered a shocking diagnosis: multiple sclerosis.
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“I completely fell apart,” Loni confessed to Closer during a heartfelt interview, recalling the moment she learned of her eldest child’s condition. “I tried hard not to break down in front of her because I knew she was already struggling just to keep it together. But it was incredibly difficult to process and accept.”
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Loni and her daughter in 1993.
When Deidra began to crumble under the weight of fear, unable to eat or sleep, Loni quickly realized she needed to be the pillar of strength for her family. Not that the star of WKRP in Cincinnati — and ex-wife of Burt Reynolds, with whom she shares a 28-year-old son named Quinton — minds taking on that role. “You’ve got to move forward and make the best out of what life throws at you,” Loni, now 71, emphasized in a past interview with Closer. “This is a message of hope. While we don’t have a cure yet, we’re learning more every single day.”
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But it’s those moments when Loni can’t physically be there for Deidra — the daughter she shares with her first husband, Bruce Hasselberg — that hit her the hardest. “Sometimes she doesn’t answer my calls if she’s having a tough day,” Loni shares with a hint of sadness. “She thinks it’s easier that way, but I know she’s just trying to protect me.”
Loni with Deidra and granddaughters McKenzie and Megan.
“It’s just easier sometimes,” Deidra admits, expressing gratitude for her mom’s relentless support. “But I’m so lucky to have her there for me.” Loni, on the other hand, makes sure she’s present for “every MRI, every test — just to let Deidra know that I’m here and I love her unconditionally.”
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A Family United in Strength
Loni reflects on how close-knit her family has become throughout this journey. “We needed each other to get through this,” she says warmly. “Being there for one another has been our greatest strength.”
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