Christina Applegate Reveals She Gained 40 Lbs. After MS Diagnosis & Admits She’s ‘Never Going To Accept’ The Disease
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Christina Applegate gave an update on her health over one year after she revealed she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, in a new interview.
Christina Applegate, 50, opened up about her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in an interview with The New York Times published Nov. 1. “This is the first time anyone’s going to see me the way I am,” said Christina, who was informed of her diagnosis while filming the third and final season of her Netflix dark comedy Dead To Me. “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 added.
Christina took five months off after learning she had MS, an autoimmune disease which causes the body to eat away at its own nerve tissue. “There was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better,’ ” she told the NYT. “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.” Christina also said, “I’m never going to accept this. I’m pissed.”
The Emmy Award winner eventually resumed filming Dead To Me and wrapped production on the show, which returns Nov. 17. “I had an obligation,” she explained. “The powers that be were like, ‘Let’s just stop. We don’t need to finish it. Let’s put a few episodes together [with previously recorded footage].’ I said, ‘No. We’re going to do it, but we’re going to do it on my terms.’ ”
“If people hate it, if people love it, if all they can concentrate on is, ‘Ooh, look at the cripple,’ that’s not up to me,” Christina further said about season 3 of the show that also stars Linda Cardellini. “I’m sure that people are going to be, like, ‘I can’t get past it.’ Fine, don’t get past it, then. But hopefully people can get past it and just enjoy the ride and say goodbye to these two girls,” she added. Christina also confirmed that there were subtle signs of MS such as balance issues while she was filming season 1 of Dead to Me, but she brushed the issues off and thought nothing of it. “I wish I had paid attention. But who was I to know?” she said.
The Married…with Children alum announced her diagnosis via Twitter in Aug. 2021. “A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS. It’s been a strange journey,” Christina wrote at the time. “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 a**hole blocks it. As one of my friends with MS said, ‘We wake up and take the indicated action.’ And that’s what I do. So now I ask for privacy. As I go through this thing. Thank you xo.”