Christina Applegate opened up for the first time about the moment she learned of her MS diagnosis.
The Dead to Me star, 51, sat down for a candid chat with Kelly Clarkson for a segment on The Kelly Clarkson Show, sharing details she had kept under wraps until now regarding how she felt when she was told she had an incurable disease.
Christina shared that she was in the midst of filming the third season of her hit Netflix show, which also stars Linda Cardellini, when she received the news.
“I was diagnosed during shooting,” she explained to the first American Idol winner. “I didn’t know what was happening to me. I couldn’t walk, they had to use a wheelchair to get me to set.”
“I was freaking out until someone was like, ‘You need an MRI,'” she said of experiencing the intense, and at-the-time, unexplained issues.
Christina shared that it was after work on a Monday that she finally found out the cause behind her pain and learned she had a disease that would stay with her for the rest of her life.
She told fans on Twitter last year that, while learning of her disease was devastating and difficult to grapple with, her friends and family have been supportive.
“Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS,” she wrote in her tweet while revealing her diagnosis.
“It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some a**hole blocks it.”
Actress Selma Blair, who bravely took up the challenge of competing on the most recent season of Dancing with the Stars, has also been in the spotlight in recent years following sharing her own personal journey with MS, talking with Robin Roberts in 2019 about living with the debilitating disease.
Christina Applegate goes barefoot while celebrating Hollywood star
Christina has seemed to not let the news of her condition bring her down too much as she continues to garner respect for her positivity and comedic view of her disease.
The actress recently celebrated having her name added to the star walkway in Hollywood, looking glowing and beautiful in all-black while keeping her feet free from socks or shoes.
As reported by Monsters and Critics, Christina later explained via a tweet that people with MS often suffer from pain in the lower extremities, and socks and shoes can feel like too much.
“Barefoot. For some with MS the feeling of shoes may hurt or make us feel off balance. So today I was me. Barefoot,” she wrote.
Christina even poked fun at herself during her acceptance speech, calling herself the “disabled lady” while laughing and asking if anyone had noticed she wasn’t wearing shoes.
Christina Applegate says Dead to Me could be her last acting gig since MS diagnosis
Although Christina looks to be handling her disease in the most gracious and humorous way possible, she did share recently that she feels the final season of Dead to Me could be her last acting gig.
As shared by Monsters and Critics, Christina admitted that acting has gotten harder for her since finding out she has MS as she shared that playing Jen Harding on her Netflix show might just be her final time taking on a character for the cameras.
“I don’t know how capable I am,” she said while tearing up about possibly ending her decades-long career.
The actress started acting at a very young age, appearing in commercials and alongside her actress mom in Days of Our Lives before hitting it big time with her recurring role as Kelly Bundy in Married…With Children at 15 years old.
She secured her star status with her role as Sue Ellen in the cult classic Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead and went on to have a highly successful acting career from there on, even finding footing in the show Friends as Amy Green.
Dead to Me season 3 began airing on November 17 on Netflix.