Renowned actress Christina Applegate has opened up about her ongoing struggle with multiple sclerosis (MS) and body dysmorphia, candidly revealing, “Sometimes the weight bothered me more than the disease itself.”
The 54-year-old actress received her MS diagnosis in 2021. Reflecting on her past, she recalled a time when she was a size zero, appearing almost skeletal, yet she was never content with her appearance.
Multiple sclerosis is a debilitating condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body, leading to nerve damage in the brain and spinal cord.
Applegate shared a pivotal moment in her life back in 2000 when she chose to add cheese to her salad, marking a turning point in her relationship with food. “My relationship with food is so much better than it ever was,” she stated.
However, following her MS diagnosis, she underwent 15 hours of steroid injections, leading to a 40-pound weight gain. She remarked, “everything just went like a f***ing blob.”
Christina Applegate, 54, has detailed her battle with MS and body dysmorphia and admitted ‘Sometimes the weight bothered me more than the disease’ (pictured in 2022)
Christina revealed that she has gained 40 pounds since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
Two years later, as she prepared to receive her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Applegate reflected on how she no longer resembled her former self due to the effects of medication and the relentless progression of the disease.
‘For all the joy of finally getting my star, it was still humiliating and horrible and devastating to be seen this way. Not just because I was bigger – that was one thing – but because the girl who had control all her life no longer had that control.
‘I want to throw up when I think of the pictures that are out there of me. I look sad and embarrassed. Because all I can think is: everyone is staring. Once people stared at my boobs. But now I knew they were staring not only because I was disabled; they were staring because I was fat, for ever an unacceptable fate for women in Hollywood.
‘Sometimes the weight bothered me more than the disease. I didn’t look in the mirror for a year. Then I was put on a clear‑liquid diet because of my stomach issues, and all of a sudden, everything just dropped off of me. Within seven months, all of it was gone, and I was down by 50 pounds or more. These days, my legs are tinier than they’ve ever been.’
Applegate has spoken candidly about her health issues throughout the years, which includes a bout with early stage breast cancer that saw her undergo a double mastectomy in 2008.
In 2017, Applegate discovered she had the BRCA1 gene mutation, which predisposes her to developing cancer. She opted to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.
Now, Christina’s illness means she can’t eat what she wants because she is prone to serious tummy issues that could put her in hospital.
Christina Applegate’s book, Y ou With the Sad Eyes: A Memoir by Christina Applegate, is out on Tuesday
Despite this, she says she is now in a much healthier place when it comes to her relationship with food.
However, she says she has ‘scary-looking legs’ and no muscles, which means her bones aren’t protected if she were to fall.
But she says there is still that little voice in her head that she’s ‘really skinny and has the legs she has always wanted.’
She concludes, ‘this is the sickness. But she’s not going to win.’
Applegate rose to prominence as a child actress at the age of 15, while starring as Al and Peggy’s promiscuous daughter Kelly Bundy in the Fox sitcom Married with Children, which ran from 1987–1997.
She also received much acclaim for her portrayal of anchorwoman Veronica Corningstone in the 2004 comedy films Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie.
She is the recipient of a Primetime Emmy Award (for her guest role in the NBC sitcom Friends) and has received four Golden Globe Award nominations as well as one Tony Award nomination.
Christina Applegate’s book, You With the Sad Eyes: A Memoir by Christina Applegate, is out on Tuesday.
