Christina Applegate reveals death in her family that has brought her to ‘tears’ as she continues MS battle

By HEIDI PARKER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Published: 20:14 BST, 29 April 2025 | Updated: 20:26 BST, 29 April 2025

Christina Applegate has suffered a family loss.

The Married… With Children actress – who has been battling the crippling disease MS – revealed on Tuesday that her father Robert ‘Bobby’ Applegate has died at the age of 82.

The Anchorman movie star broke down in tears when she shared the heartbreaking news on her podcast this week.

Applegate was talking to fellow MS sufferer Jamie-Lynn Sigler of Sopranos fame on their podcast MeSsy.

She told guest JoAnna Garcia Swisher that she was crying because her father passed away about a week before they were recording their podcast session.

Christina added that this was the first time she had shed tears over the passing of her dad because she had held it in. 

Christina Applegate has suffered a family loss. The Married… With Children actress – who has been battling the crippling disease MS – revealed that her father Robert Applegate has died at the age of 82. Seen on April 26 in LA

‘We knew he was going to die. Is that an excuse for not feeling? Because you kind of know that someone’s going to go, and you’ve said your goodbyes,’ she said.

Swisher then said she was very sad when one of her parents died.

Applegate noticed the first signs of MS after ‘falling’ on her series Dead To Me.

The 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.

During an episode of her own ‘MeSsy’ podcast with 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 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.’

Applegate, Ed O’Neill, David Faustino, Katey Sagal in 1990 on Married… With Children

Applegate, Baxter the dog and Will Ferrell in Anchorman, The Legend Of Ron Burgundy in 2004

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 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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Christina Applegate reveals death in her family that has brought her to ‘tears’ as she continues MS battle

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