Pushing forward. Christina Applegate opened up about her battle with multiple sclerosis — and revealed her struggle to come to terms with her diagnosis.
“This is the first time anyone’s going to see me the way I am,” the Bad Moms actress, 50, told The New York Times in an interview published on Tuesday, November 1, referring to the upcoming final season of 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.”
The former Up All Night star recently revealed that she plans to use a cane at her first public appearance since she was diagnosed with MS in 2021. “I have a very important ceremony coming up,” she tweeted on Thursday, October 27, alongside a photo of several walking sticks. “This will be my first time out since diagnosed with MS. Walking sticks are now part of my new normal. Thank you @neowalksticks for these beauties. Stay tuned to see which ones make the cut for a week of stuff.”
The Married … With Children alum received her diagnosis while filming season 3 of the Netflix comedy last year. “There was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better,’” the Emmy winner recalled. “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.”
Though she’s worked to “process” her diagnosis, she noted that she’s not ready to “accept” how her life has changed. “It’s not like I came on the other side of it, like, ‘Woohoo, I’m totally fine,’” she told the outlet. “Acceptance? No. I’m never going to accept this. I’m pissed.”
Applegate revealed her multiple sclerosis battle in August 2021, explaining that she’d been diagnosed “a few months” prior. “It’s been a strange journey,” she tweeted 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.”
Three months later, the California native spoke candidly about her health while celebrating her 50th birthday. “Yup. I turned 50 today,” she wrote via Twitter in November 2021. “And I have MS. It’s been a hard one. Sending so much love to all of you this day. Many are hurting today, and I am thinking of you. May we find that strength to lift our heads up. Mine currently is on my pillow. But I try.”
The Anchorman star revealed on Tuesday that “the powers that be” were concerned that Applegate wouldn’t be able to finish filming the final episodes of Dead to Me, but she pressed on. “I said, ‘No. We’re going to do it, but we’re going to do it on my terms,'” she recalled. “I had an obligation to [creator] Liz [Feldman] and to [costar] Linda [Cardellini], to our story.”
