Dead To Me star Christina Applegate has opened up about the small signs and symptoms she wishes she'd paid better attention to prior to being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
The 50-year-old actor learned the truth behind her health issues in the summer of 2021, when she was just getting started on the third and final season of Netflix's Dead To Me.
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Applegate opened up ahead of the release of the final series, which arrives on Netflix on 17 November and will for the first time allow viewers to see the actor 'the way [she is]'.
She explained: “I put on 40 pounds; I can’t walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that.”
It was while filming the first season a few years prior that she first noticed changes in her body, such as feeling unbalanced and being less strong than she was previously.
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She initially believed she just needed to work harder, but in a recent interview with The New York Times she explained: "I wish I had paid attention. But who was I to know?”
Over time, Applegate began experiencing numbness and tingling in her extremities - symptoms which, according to the NHS, are common for the disease.
Following her diagnosis, production on Dead To Me stopped for five months so Applegate could start receiving treatment.
“There was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better,’” Applegate said. Unfortunately however, she pointed out there 'is no better'.
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Multiple sclerosis is a lifelong condition which can cause serious disability. Though it is possible to treat symptoms in many cases, the NHS explains average life expectancy is slightly reduced for people diagnosed.
Regardless of the fact there was no cure, Applegate said the break and the treatment was 'good' for her, explaining: "I needed to process my loss of my life, my loss of that part of me. So I needed that time.”
"Although it’s not like I came on the other side of it, like, ‘Woohoo, I’m totally fine,’” she added. “Acceptance? No. I’m never going to accept this. I’m p*ssed.”
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Though Applegate herself doesn't think she'll be able to watch the final season, she hopes viewers will be able to look past her diagnosis to the characters in the show.
"If people hate it, if people love it, if all they can concentrate on is, ‘Ooh, look at the cripple,’ that’s not up to me,” she said. “I’m sure that people are going to be, like, ‘I can’t get past it.’
“Fine, don’t get past it, then. But hopefully people can get past it and just enjoy the ride and say goodbye to these two girls.”
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Health, Netflix, Christina Applegate
Emily Brown