Christina Applegate noticed the first signs of MS after "falling" on 'Dead To Me'
The 53-year-old actress was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021, but she has recalled filming the pilot episode of the drama - which aired from 2019 to 2022 - which included a scene where her character Jen Harding was running across a field
15 December 2024
During an episode of her own 'MeSsy' podcast with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, she told 'Dead To Me' director Liz Feldman: "I remember falling that day.
"Hi, first sign of MS! So, not to bring everybody down, but there was I was."
Liz recalled: "I remember you losing your balance when we were shooting the pilot a couple of times.
"It was very hard to figure it out because, you know, I remember one time, it was really late at night.
"We'd been shooting probably 14 or 15 hours ... It seemed completely reasonable that anybody would be collapsing."
Christina confirmed: "It was MS."
She revealed her diagnosis with the autoimmune disease - which affects the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system) - in 2021, before the show finished, and she previously admitted that filming the final season helped her deal with the news.
She told Kelly Clarkson in December 2022: "The beauty of 'Dead to Me' is that it gave me almost this weird platform of dealing with it, where I didn't have to be on all the time and I didn't have to make all the jokes and I could fall apart in a scene.
"And it was, like, me. It was my soul actually falling apart, unfortunately, in front of the world, but it was cathartic in a beautiful way."
She and fellow MS patient Jamie-Lynn Sigler launched their 'MeSsy' podcast, to talk about their lives with the illness.
Christina said: "Just some thoughts. When we hold in feelings of despair we give those feelings incredible power.
"Why Jamie and I have our podcast is to air those feelings.
"Raw, honest and triggering. And by just sharing we free ourselves. Never feel alone. There is always an ear somewhere. Love you."
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