Jennifer Esposito, who played Detective Jackie Curatola on CBS’s BLUE BLOODS, revealed this week that an undiagnosed case of celiac disease once landed her in a psychiatric ward, the latest chapter in a health battle that shadowed much of her acting career.
“I will say it was seven of the most excruciating hours of my entire life, because I was yet again pleading for my sanity,” Esposito said on Maria Menounos’ “Heal Squad” podcast, in comments picked up by Entertainment Weekly.
That kind of candor is exactly what Movieguide® readers look for from Hollywood: not a polished redemption arc, but the messy, human truth underneath it. Esposito’s account carries a quiet note of faith, too — she recalled that during her darkest stretch, “my mother had people pray over me,” a small reminder that even in an industry built on image, some families still turn to prayer first.
Esposito’s health crisis began early in her acting career in New York City, long before BLUE BLOODS made her a fixture of CBS’s Friday-night lineup. It intensified while she filmed the ABC comedy SAMANTHA WHO? in the late 2000s, when doctors tried nearly everything except the right diagnosis.
“They wanted to give me shock treatment at one point because I wasn’t responding. I’m very sensitive to medication,” Esposito said.
Related: Why Did These BLUE BLOODS Characters Suddenly Leave the Show?
The disease attacked her from the outside in. Her hair thinned, her nails came loose and during one production, a tooth fell out mid-scene.
The psychiatric hold came roughly two months after doctors finally diagnosed her celiac disease, when her still-fragile nervous system led to a frightening miscommunication with a physician. She told him she felt like she might “jump out of my skin” — a plea for relief that staff heard as a threat to her safety, landing her in a psych ward instead of back on treatment for the disease actually driving her symptoms.
Esposito doesn’t describe the diagnosis with bitterness. If anything, she calls it a rescue.
“Celiac disease saved my life. One hundred percent,” she said.
This isn’t the first time Esposito’s illness made headlines out of a CBS soundstage. In 2012, the network suspended her without pay after her doctor recommended a lighter schedule, and she called CBS’s handling of the situation “absolutely shameful behavior” before eventually leaving the show. She returned years later as a recurring guest star, finishing out Jackie Curatola’s story before BLUE BLOODS wrapped its 14-season run in 2024.
Esposito has spent the years since turning a painful diagnosis into purpose, including a 2014 memoir chronicling her recovery. Hollywood doesn’t always reward this kind of vulnerability, but Esposito’s willingness to describe her lowest point in such plain terms is its own kind of grace — proof that a story doesn’t need a tidy ending to be worth telling.
Read Next: BLUE BLOODS Boss Attributes Show’s Success to…
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
