Christina Applegate is opening up about the emotional toll of her ongoing battle with multiple sclerosis — and how it’s affecting not just her life, but her daughter’s too.
In a candid conversation on the Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast with Kelly Ripa, the 53-year-old Dead to Me actress shared a deeply personal moment she recently experienced with her 14-year-old daughter, Sadie. Applegate, who was diagnosed with MS in 2021, revealed that Sadie told her, “I miss who you were before you got sick.”
“That is just like a knife to the heart,” Applegate said. “Because I miss who I was before I got sick too. Very much.”
Despite the physical and emotional weight of her diagnosis, Applegate said it’s Sadie who gives her a reason to keep pushing forward each day. “I don’t get up in the morning with that [motivation] — I get up because of her. She’s the reason I’m still here and trying.”
A Difficult Journey with MS
Applegate has been open about how hard life has been since her diagnosis. In May, during an appearance on Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, she spoke about the harsh reality of living with MS — a progressive disease that affects the central nervous system, causing symptoms like fatigue, muscle weakness, vision problems, and cognitive changes.
“If people saw what my life was like on the daily, they wouldn’t be able to do it. Because I can sometimes not do it,” she admitted. “It’s really, really hard. I don’t really leave the house anymore.”
MS has made daily tasks unpredictable, especially when it comes to being a mom. In a 2023 interview with PEOPLE, Applegate talked about how her condition has reshaped her role as a parent.
“She’s had to see the loss of her mom, in the way that I was a mom with her,” Applegate said. “Dancing with her every day. Picking her up from school. Working in the school library. Being present, out of the house, out of my bed. She doesn’t see those things anymore. This is a loss for her as well.”
“I Try. I Try.”
Applegate spoke with emotion about the small ways MS has impacted their relationship. “She’ll come in the room, and if she sees that I’m laying on my side, she knows she can’t ask me to do anything,” Applegate explained. “And that breaks me. Because I love doing stuff for my kid. I love making her food. I love bringing it to her. I love all of it. And I just can’t sometimes. But I try. I try.”
Applegate’s journey with MS began while she was filming the final season of her hit Netflix series Dead to Me. Since going public with her diagnosis, she’s become a voice for many living with invisible illnesses — sharing both the pain and the strength that comes with it.
While her days may look different now, one thing remains clear: her love for Sadie continues to be her guiding force through it all.
