Tearful Christina Applegate Mourns Death of Dad & Battles MS

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Christina Applegate is grieving the death of her father Robert Applegate.

Two weeks following her father’s death at the age of 90, the former star of “Married With Children” revealed that she is only now starting to let herself experience and deal with her feelings.

Christina shared with guest JoAnna Garcia Swisher on their April 29th podcast episode that her eyes were probably welling up due to the recent passing of her father, who unfortunately passed away only a week prior. She apologized for any discomfort this may have caused.

For the very first time, tears streamed down my face, something I hadn’t let myself experience before. Caught up in a whirlwind of obligations, I hadn’t allowed myself the emotional space for it. We all knew his fate was inevitable, but is that a justification for not feeling deeply? After all, we bid farewell, but can we ever truly prepare ourselves for such an inevitable goodbye?

Regarding JoAnna, having recently lost both her parents, she’s familiar with the mournful grieving period. In fact, she confided that there were times when she felt “too young to be without parents for support.

Expressing deep sorrow, the former Sopranos actor expressed her feelings, drawing from personal experiences of losing loved ones. “It’s incredibly painful,” she said, “because they serve as anchors. I felt completely adrift. Perhaps your relationship with your father isn’t comparable to mine, but for me, he was a soulmate, and my mother was my dearest friend.

Instead of JoAnna expressing her longing for her parents’ guidance, Christina, who has a 13-year-old daughter, Sadie Grace LeNoble, with her husband Martyn LeNoble, acknowledged that she learned most of her life lessons, particularly about parenting, not from her parents.

The person speaking didn’t live with their father during childhood as they had separated when the speaker was just five months old. However, the father has been a significant presence in the speaker’s life ever since. They also have two lovely siblings and a wonderful stepmother, but their father wasn’t involved in the day-to-day learning experiences of growing up.

Instead, the actress known for As Luck Would Have It drew inspiration from her life experiences and a belief in the universe to carve her own path, including during her long struggle with multiple sclerosis (MS), a condition characterized by the autoimmune system attacking the central nervous system, as defined by the Mayo Clinic.

Over the past three years, I’ve found myself hospitalized more than 30 times due to severe symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, and pain, as I shared in my podcast last month. It’s hard to put into words how challenging this has been, but let me try: it’s been unbearable.

In an effort to understand what’s happening with me, they’ve run every test imaginable on my body. Moreover, the amount of radiation I’ve been exposed to from CT scans and other procedures is substantial.

In November, the actress from “Dead to Me” shared details about the intense and agonizing pain she often endures.

Christina told Jamie-Lynn, who was living with MS too at that point, ‘Everyone experiences it differently.’ She shared, ‘For me, it’s like lying in bed and feeling intense pain, sharp and dull, and a sensation of being squeezed.’

For more about Christina’s journey with MS, keep reading.

Christina Applegate shared she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021.

Greetings everyone. A few months back, I received the news that I have Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This revelation has led me on an unusual path, and I’ve been open about it on my social media channels since last August. While the journey hasn’t been easy, I’m grateful for the support from friends who also live with this condition. The road ahead is challenging, but as we all understand, life goes on, even when obstacles arise. Let’s hope no one intentionally puts up barriers along our paths.

During her Hollywood Walk of Fame induction in November 2022, which was her first public event since being diagnosed with a disease, she playfully commented: “Guess what I have? A condition, if you couldn’t tell by the fact that I’m not wearing any shoes!

Christina believes her MS journey actually began “six or seven years” before her 2021 diagnosis.

During an interview on Good Morning America in March 2024, Christina shared that while filming the first season of Dead to Me, she often found herself struggling with her leg giving way. At first, she attributed it to being tired, dehydrated, or the weather. However, for months afterwards, nothing seemed amiss, and she didn’t give it much thought.

By the end of filming the third and last season for the Netflix series, the actress shared that she was being transported to the set in a wheelchair.

“I couldn’t move that far,” she recalled, “so I had to tell everybody because I needed help.”

The actress from the show “Dead to Me” posted a picture of her cane collection during her struggle with MS, saying, “Walking aids have become a part of my everyday life now.

Accompanied by her daughter, Sadie Grace LeNoble, Christina delivered a straightforward message regarding Multiple Sclerosis at the 2023 SAG Awards: “MS, I’ve got you!” or “Standing with my daughter, Sadie Grace LeNoble, I sent a strong message to MS at the 2023 SAG Awards: ‘You’re challenged!’

Following a heartfelt standing ovation at the 2023 Emmys, the former star of “Married…With Children” humorously remarked, “Your standing applause is making me feel embarrassed for being able-bodied.

On the March 2024 episode of Armchair Expert, Christina expressed that she tells jokes about her condition as a way to breathe easier, putting it simply: “If I don’t make these jokes, I might drown in seriousness.

In that very podcast, I shared that I’ve got about three dozen spots on my brain. The largest of these is situated behind my right eye, which unfortunately means I experience quite a bit of discomfort in that eye.

According to the Multiple Sclerosis Trust, legions (or lesions) arise when the immune system mistakenly attacks the protective covering (myelin sheath) surrounding nerve fibers.

Christina hasn’t held back when it comes to sharing her journey. 

In a chat with Jimmy Kimmel on his late-night show, the actress from Anchorman candidly shared her challenging daily life due to Multiple Sclerosis. She was straightforward in saying that it’s not an experience anyone with MS would describe as fantastic or wonderful.

Speaking to Good Morning America in March 2024, Christina described her daily life with the disease as “a bit like living in hell.

She mentioned, “However, I might reach a point where I perform a bit more effectively,” she noted. “At the moment, I’m choosing solitude as my coping mechanism, and that involves staying put since I don’t feel ready to engage. It’s challenging.

In my personal experience, I owe a debt of gratitude to my “Sweetest Thing” co-star, the remarkable Selma Blair. After she bravely shared her Multiple Sclerosis (MS) diagnosis in 2018, she inspired me to take the necessary steps and get tested for this condition as well.

During her GMA interview, Christina recollected that she was told, “It’s important for you to have an evaluation for Multiple Sclerosis.” She added, “Without her advice, things might have turned out much more severely.

Christina indicated that it’s highly probable that “Dead to Me” will mark her final on-screen appearance. In an interview with Vanity Fair in May 2023, she expressed, “I find it hard to envision myself stepping onto a film set at this moment.

She expressed that it’s unlikely she’ll work on-camera again, but she’s incredibly grateful to have collaborated with an exceptional actress – Linda Cardellini, who might even be the greatest person she’s ever encountered in her life, if not the most outstanding human being overall.

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2025-04-29 20:47