Christina Applegate Opens Up About How Her MS Diagnosis Has Affected Daughter Sadie
Jordan Collins here—your semi-patient guide to all things celebrity, because clearly, you wouldn’t know drama if it smacked you in the face with a tabloid. But since you’re here, I suppose I’ll help. Let’s talk about Christina Applegate, who, in case you’ve been living under a rock, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021. And no, it’s not just about her anymore. Her 14-year-old daughter Sadie? She’s been quietly dealing with the emotional fallout, and it’s not exactly a walk in the park.
Applegate, best known for her role in Dead to Me, recently opened up about how her MS diagnosis has affected her only child. And no, it’s not the kind of “emotional journey” you see on daytime talk shows. It’s real. It’s raw. And it’s heartbreaking. Sadie, who once knew her mom as a vibrant, active woman—runner, Peloton devotee, dancer—has had to adjust to a new reality. One where her mother sometimes can’t walk down the hallway to say goodnight. One where she watches her mom struggle, even if she doesn’t always show it.
“She didn’t know this,” Applegate said during an episode of her MeSsy podcast with Jamie-Lynn Sigler. “It was like losing the mom she had to this f–king thing.” That’s right—Christina Applegate doesn’t sugarcoat it. And neither will I. This isn’t a fairytale. It’s life, and it’s messy. Sadie, who has been through the wringer with school shutdowns and pandemic isolation, now has to deal with a mother who can’t do the things she used to. And it’s breaking her.
But here’s the kicker: Sadie doesn’t cry. She doesn’t throw tantrums. She just… watches. And that, apparently, is worse. Applegate notices the way Sadie looks at her when she’s stuck in bed, when her legs won’t cooperate, when she can’t physically be the mom she once was. “I see it in her eyes,” Christina admitted. And if that doesn’t make you feel something, I don’t know what will.
Still, it’s not all doom and gloom. Sadie has stepped up in ways that would make any parent proud. She holds Applegate’s arm when they’re out in public. She helps her through anxiety-fueled moments. She’s growing up fast, and not in the way most teenagers do. She’s learning resilience, empathy, and strength—whether she asked for the lesson or not.
Applegate, for her part, has been candid about her MS journey. She believes the symptoms started years before her official diagnosis—back when she was filming the first season of Dead to Me. She’d feel her leg buckle on set and chalk it up to fatigue or dehydration. By the time they filmed the final season, she was being brought to set in a wheelchair. And yes, she joked about it. Because what else can you do when your body betrays you?
She made headlines when she quipped at her Hollywood Walk of Fame induction, “Oh, by the way, I have a disease,” while joking about not wearing shoes. And she’s continued to raise awareness, even captioning a photo of her canes with, “Walking sticks are now part of my new normal.”
Christina Applegate is handling this the only way she knows how: with humor, honesty, and a whole lot of grit. And Sadie? She’s watching. Learning. Growing. And quietly becoming the kind of person most parents only dream of raising.
So yes, MS has changed their lives. But it hasn’t broken them. Not yet.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and E! Online
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