{"id":47753,"date":"2025-11-19T12:06:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T17:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=47753"},"modified":"2025-11-19T12:06:04","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T17:06:04","slug":"queen-of-versailles-star-jackie-siegel-opens-up-about-the-double-tragedy-that-brought-her-closer-to-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/queen-of-versailles-star-jackie-siegel-opens-up-about-the-double-tragedy-that-brought-her-closer-to-god.html","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Queen of Versailles\u2019 Star Jackie Siegel Opens Up About the Double Tragedy That Brought Her &#8220;Closer to God&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_47756\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-47756\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2025\/11\/Jackie-Siege_credit-lev-radin-Shutterstock.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-47756\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2025\/11\/Jackie-Siege_credit-lev-radin-Shutterstock.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-47756\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">lev radin \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;Queen of Versailles&#8221; star Jackie Siegel is opening up about a heartbreaking season of loss \u2014 and how God met her in the middle of it.<\/p>\n<p>The actress and socialite, whose life inspired the Broadway musical &#8220;The Queen of Versailles,&#8221; lost her husband, David Siegel, and her sister, Jessica, within just days of each other this past April. David, the founder of Westgate Resorts, died on April 5 at age 89 after battling cancer. Three days later, Jessica died at age 43 from an accidental fentanyl overdose.<\/p>\n<p>Jackie told <em>Fox News Digital<\/em> that the pain shook her deeply \u2014 but also woke her up spiritually. \u201cI feel like with these losses that I&#8217;ve had, in some strange ways, got me closer to God,\u201d she said. She added that she now feels a clear calling: \u201cI just know that my purpose is to bring people together to save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t the first tragedy Jackie has faced. In 2015, her 18-year-old daughter, Victoria, died after an accidental overdose of methadone and sertraline. Jackie said she now sees how all of these struggles shifted her priorities. \u201cHad I not gone through this hardship, I could have taken life for granted and not really given back to the full potential that I was put here for,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n<p>Her daughter\u2019s death became the foundation for Victoria\u2019s Voice, a nonprofit dedicated to overdose prevention and drug awareness. The organization was partly born because \u201con the day she died, Victoria had a pulse when first responders arrived\u2026 but they were not equipped with naloxone.\u201d Since then, Jackie and David both worked to expand naloxone access across the country. \u201cI just know in one county, we&#8217;ve saved lives in that 700 administrations of Narcan,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that gives me strength.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jackie says meeting people helped by the foundation continues to encourage her. \u201cTo have people come up and give me a hug\u2026 people that say, \u2018Thank you, you saved my child&#8217;s life,\u2019\u201d she shared, \u201cthat gives me comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She also spoke about the sudden loss of her sister Jessica, who died after taking what she thought was cocaine. \u201cI thought it was cocaine, but it was fentanyl. And she died so fast,\u201d Jackie recalled. Her family chose to donate Jessica\u2019s organs \u2014 \u201cher heart, her lungs, her skin, everything\u201d \u2014 giving life to others even in tragedy.<\/p>\n<p>Through all of this grief, Jackie says she feels God redirecting her life and deepening her faith. \u201cI think through this, the grief that I&#8217;ve had, it&#8217;s almost like a wake-up call for me,\u201d she said. She also believes that even closed doors can be God\u2019s protection. \u201cIf one door shuts, it may be that God shut the door\u2026 because there\u2019s a better one waiting for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Today, Jackie continues her advocacy work while celebrating the Broadway musical inspired by her life. After seeing Kristin Chenoweth portray her onstage, she told the actress, \u201cShe plays me better than I play me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even as her famous mega-mansion, Versailles, nears completion, Jackie says the show makes it seem like \u201call I care about is this house,\u201d but insists she\u2019s focused on much more \u2014 faith, family, and saving lives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd when the good things do happen,\u201d she reflected, \u201cyou appreciate it so much more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Queen of Versailles&#8221; star Jackie Siegel is opening up about a heartbreaking season of loss \u2014 and how God met her in the middle of it. The actress and socialite, whose life inspired the Broadway musical &#8220;The Queen of Versailles,&#8221; lost her husband, David Siegel, and her sister, Jessica, within just days of each other&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":47756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Queen of Versailles\u2019 Star Jackie Siegel Opens Up About the Double Tragedy That Brought Her &quot;Closer to God&quot;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u2018Queen of Versailles\u2019 star Jackie Siegel reflects on the back-to-back losses of her husband and sister, calling 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