Christina Applegate Says Living With MS Is "Kind of Hell"

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Christina Applegate has some big news to share. The Dead to Me star is starting a podcast about her experience with multiple sclerosis alongside her friend and Sopranos star Jamie-Lynn Sigler, according to People. The first episode of their new podcast, called MeSsy, drops on March 19.

The actress, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021, told People that she first connected with Jamie-Lynn—who has been living with the disease for two decades—on the suggestion of mutual friend Lance Bass. Once the two touched base, they "haven't stopped talking since," Applegate, 52, shared.

"I wanted to give her tools and things that I've learned that have helped me," Jamie-Lynn, 42, told the outlet.

"We would talk on the phone for two hours, and we'd be laughing and crying and we were like, 'This is helping us. Let's record this. Let's do it,'" Applegate added.

According to a description of the podcast, the show will feature the two stars "getting vulnerable about the curveballs that life can throw." The series will also feature conversations with former co-stars like Martin Short and Edie Falco.

The news has raised a lot of questions about Applegate's health and how she's doing right now. Here’s everything the actress has shared about her MS diagnosis so far.

She revealed her MS diagnosis in 2021.

Applegate shared her diagnosis on X (formerly Twitter) with a post on August 10, 2021.

“Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS. It’s been a strange journey,” she wrote. “But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some asshole blocks it.”

At the time, she didn't say much more about the diagnosis, but later began to share more about her health journey.

She had been experiencing physical symptoms that led her to see a doctor.

In November 2022, Applegate told The New York Times that she'd started noticing symptoms while filming the third season of Dead to Me. She felt off-balance while shooting a dancing scene, and then noticed that her tennis game was off.

Applegate says she missed early warning signs.

Despite her symptoms, Applegate told The New York Times that she didn’t connect her symptoms with anything more sinister at the time. “I wish I had paid attention. But who was I to know?” she said.

Applegate also told the outlet that she developed numbness and tingling in her extremities that got worse as time went on, so she eventually decided to see a doctor. Filming for Dead to Me was temporarily put on pause while she was trying to sort out her health issues.

“There was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better,’” she said. “And there is no better. But it was good for me. I needed to process my loss of my life, my loss of that part of me. So I needed that time.”

Applegate also said that she’s “never going to accept” her diagnosis, adding, “I’m pissed.”

She unveiled her Hollywood Star while barefoot.

Shortly after sharing this health update, Applegate received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and went to the ceremony barefoot. She later went on X to explain why she didn’t wear shoes.

“Barefoot. For some with MS the feeling of shoes may hurt or make us feel off balance. So today I was me. Barefoot,” she wrote next to a photo of her feet on her star.

“Oh, by the way, I have a disease,” she said, jokingly, during her speech at the big event, per People. “Did you not notice? I’m not even wearing shoes. Anywho, you’re supposed to laugh at that.”

Her daughter has been a big source of strength.

During her Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony speech, Applegate began to cry as she thanked her daughter for all of her love and support during her difficult health journey.

“The most important person in this world is my daughter,” she said, per Variety. “You are so much more than even you know. You are so beautiful and kind and smart and interesting. I’m blessed every day that I get to wake up and take you to school…thank you for standing by me through all of this.”

Applegate got candid about her physical changes post-diagnosis.

These days, the actor can't get around without the help of a cane.

“I put on 40 pounds; I can’t walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that," she told The New York Times.

And all these physical struggles made it hard for her to finish filming Dead to Me because she couldn't work as long in heat, had a hard time walking down stairs, and had to use a wheelchair to get to set, per The New York Times. Still, she persisted.

Applegate gave another health update in 2023.

In May of 2023, Applegate revealed to Vanity Fair that it’s been hard for her to keep acting after her diagnosis. In fact, she shared that Dead to Me might be her last time on camera.

“With the disease of MS, it’s never a good day,” she said. “You just have little sh*t days.” Applegate added that it can be “frightening” to do simple things like take a shower.

“You can fall, you can slip, your legs can buckle,” she said. “Especially because I have a glass shower. It’s frightening to me to get in there. There are just certain things that people take for granted in their lives that I took for granted. Going down the stairs, carrying things—you can’t do that anymore.”

Since her condition makes her more susceptible to infections, she also prefers to avoid crowds.

She presented at the Emmys and talked about her diagnosis.

Applegate was both a presenter and a nominee at the 2024 Emmy Awards on January 16, and as she walked on stage with the help of a cane and fellow actor Anthony Anderson, she received a standing ovation from the audience.

During her speech, Applegate referenced her diagnosis a few times and, despite getting emotional, lightened the room with a joke about her MS. “You’re totally shaming me with disability by standing up,” she joked. “It’s fine.”

She tried to continue her speech by talking about her career, but as people kept clapping and cheering, she joked, “We don't have to applaud every time I do something."

In March, Applegate shared that it was difficult to process the experience. “I actually kinda blacked out,” she said during an interview with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America. “People said, ‘Oh, you were so funny,’ and I'm like, ‘I don't even know what I said. I don't know what I was doing. I got so freaked out that I didn't even know what was happening anymore.’”

But, despite being nervous, Applegate said that she “felt really beloved, and it was really a beautiful thing.”

She’s starting a podcast about her experience with MS.

During the same interview, Applegate revealed that she’s launching a new podcast called MeSsy with her friend (and Sopranos star) Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who also has MS. According to the podcast description, the series will feature the stars "as they self-reflect, learn, laugh, and grow through their own raw and often-times hilarious conversations with each other, friends, co-stars, and the people that keep them going through the messiness of life."

And, even though both hosts have MS, the podcast isn’t only about their chronic disease, according to Sigler. “It's not about the specific experience we're having,” she said. “It's us facing something hard and it's about figuring out how to still push through.”

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