Christina Applegate has never shied away from speaking openly about her health struggles — but her latest revelation about how her 14-year-old daughter, Sadie, is coping with her multiple sclerosis diagnosis is leaving fans devastated.
The 53-year-old Dead to Me star first shared her MS diagnosis in 2021. Since then, she has spoken candidly about the profound ways the autoimmune disease, which impacts the brain and central nervous system, has changed her life. But in her latest podcast episode, Christina revealed just how deeply her illness has affected her daughter — and her words will break your heart.
“I Miss Who You Were Before You Got Sick”
In an emotional conversation on Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa last month, Christina admitted that a fight with Sadie left her shaken.
“She’s the reason I’m still here and trying,” Christina said of her daughter. But she then recalled the devastating comment Sadie made during an argument:
“She says: ‘I miss who you were before you got sick.’”
“That’s just like, knife to the heart,” Christina shared. “Because I miss who I was before I got sick, too. Very much so. Every day of my life, it’s such a loss.”
The moment was raw, painful, and brutally honest — a reminder that chronic illness doesn’t only change the life of the person diagnosed, but also reshapes the lives of those they love most.
“It’s Broken Her”: How Sadie Has Been Affected
On her MeSsy podcast, which she cohosts with fellow actor Jamie-Lynn Sigler (who also lives with MS), Christina went deeper into the emotional impact her illness has had on Sadie.
“In my situation, Sadie only knew me as healthy — a runner, a Pelotoner, a dancer. She only knew that. So then when this came about in 2021, she was, like, stoic about it,” Christina explained.
But now, as Sadie gets older, the weight of seeing her mom struggle has begun to take its toll.
“And now, I see her look at me when I’m in bed and can’t quite move… Right now, I can barely get to the bathroom. It’s broken her. She didn’t know this. It was like losing the mom she had to this fucking thing.”
Christina added that the combination of COVID isolation, her sudden diagnosis, and the drastic changes to their family’s daily life have all compounded the struggle:
“Now mommy can’t do all the things that she used to be able to do, and I see it in her eyes. I see it.”
A Mother-Daughter Bond That Remains Unshakable
Despite the pain, Christina also shared that Sadie has stepped up in ways that have left her in awe.
“When we’re out, she knows I’m having such a hard time because I have such anxiety about being out. And she’s always got my arm. She’s always trying to help me with my cane,” Christina revealed.
At home, Sadie also pushes her mom to keep going — sometimes with humor, sometimes with a touch of teenage stubbornness.
“She’s like: ‘Can you please go down and make my food because you’re the only one who can make it?’ And I’m like: ‘Sadie, I can’t make it down the fucking steps.’ But I do it. I do it because I know it’s like she’s checking in to make sure: ‘Can she still take care of me?’”
It’s a heartbreaking but beautiful glimpse into their relationship — a mother determined to keep showing up, and a daughter learning to navigate both love and loss at the same time.