Christina Applegate has given fans a personal glimpse into her life with multiple sclerosis, launching a new Instagram account to share what she describes as her “real, raw, honest” journey.
The Dead to Me actress, who was first diagnosed with MS in 2021, shared her first post on October 16, opening up about why she decided to join social media despite years of hesitation. “If you told me a year ago that I’d be on Instagram, I would have said, F--k off!” she wrote. “But here I am, so I’m going to do it my way. Real, raw, honest.”
Applegate, now 53, accompanied the post with a striking black-and-white photograph taken in her backyard. “It was taken by my lifelong friend @kevingrackle,” she explained. “In my backyard with the chimes that remind me of my mother and a moon necklace from a dear witchy friend.”
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The photo shows the Emmy-winning actress wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans, looking directly into the camera — an image that quickly resonated with her fans and friends alike. Fellow celebrities were quick to welcome her online, with Minka Kelly commenting “Happy to see you here,” and Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Applegate’s MeSsy podcast co-host, writing “Look at this!”
A day later, Applegate shared a video on her Instagram Stories to thank her new followers. “I’m not really a selfie person so pardon me,” she began. “Thank you so much for coming onto the Instagram with me. I’ve seen your comments. Thank you so much for the love that you are showing me. I love all of you guys so much and I appreciate you.”
The actress also used the opportunity to tease her upcoming memoir, You With the Sad Eyes, which is due for release in March 2026. “I’m excited to share You With the Sad Eyes with everyone because it’s my life — the good, the bad, the ugly and the in-between,” she wrote. “Peace and blessings.”
Applegate has been open about her MS battle in recent years. During her Hollywood Walk of Fame induction in November 2022, she addressed her illness publicly for the first time, telling the audience: “Oh, by the way, I have a disease. Did you not notice? I’m not even wearing shoes.” It was her first major appearance since her diagnosis, and she received a standing ovation from friends and fans.
In a later interview on Good Morning America in March 2024, she revealed that her symptoms began long before she was officially diagnosed. “I noticed, especially the first season [of Dead to Me], we’d be shooting and my leg would buckle,” she recalled. “I really just put it off as being tired, or I’m dehydrated, or it’s the weather. Then nothing would happen for months, and I didn’t pay attention.”
By the time production began on the show’s third and final season, her condition had significantly worsened. “I was being brought to set in a wheelchair,” she said. “I couldn’t move that far, so I had to tell everybody because I needed help.”
Applegate, who shares a 14-year-old daughter, Sadie Grace, with her husband Martyn LeNoble, has since become an outspoken advocate for MS awareness and for living authentically while facing chronic illness.
Her new social media presence marks the next chapter of that openness. What began as a reluctant move online has quickly become a platform for connection — a space where the actress says she can finally be herself.
