Actress Christina Applegate made her first official public appearance today following her 2021 multiple sclerosis diagnosis amidst the production of Applegate’s Netflix series Dead to Me. Today, November 14th, Christina Applegate was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and delivered a heartfelt message of gratitude towards her family, friends, and fans.
For ten years, from 1987 to 1997, Christina Applegate starred as Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married…With Children, which follows the Bundy family, headed by Al Bundy (Ed O’Neill), a past-his-prime high school football player turned misanthropic shoe salesman. Katey Segal stars as Peggy, Al’s wife, and David Faustino, who played Bud, the couple’s younger son. Applegate starred as Kelly, the family’s eldest child and a “dumb blonde” who enjoyed dating boys Al didn’t approve of.
According to Yahoo! Entertainment, Applegate was initially supposed to receive her star in 2020, but the ceremony was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christina Applegate On Working With MS
Christina Applegate revealed that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, or MS, on August 10th, 2022, sharing the news that she had been diagnosed with MS a few months earlier, describing her experience with the condition as a “strange journey” and a “tough road, but as we all know, the road keeps going.” Ever since her diagnosis, Applegate has remained active on her Twitter feed, reaching out to other people that share her conditions and giving and receiving recommendations for useful items like cooling blankets and the like.
Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS. 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 asshole blocks it.
— christina applegate (@1capplegate) August 10, 2021
In an interview with Variety ahead of her Walk of Fame ceremony, Applegate described working on the last season of Dead to Me while having MS as being “[as] hard as you would possibly think it would be.”
“I got diagnosed while we were working,” she said. “I had to call everybody and be like, ‘I have multiple sclerosis guys. Like, what the f***!’ And then it was about kind of learning — all of us learning — what I was going to be capable of doing.”
However, in spite of being tired, in pain, and having to use a wheelchair to get to set, Applegate remained determined that the show must go on.
Christina Applegate poses with her brand new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. https://t.co/YpWGxVIDeU pic.twitter.com/iF1JdDC1UO
— Variety (@Variety) November 14, 2022
“We have to finish this story. It’s too important to our hearts; too important to our souls. And we have to give this gift, not only to ourselves — there are people that love these characters, and we’ve got to let them have their closure too.”
At her Walk of Fame ceremony, Christina Applegate was honored by Katey Sagal and David Faustino, who were also on hand to help Applegate onto the stage to deliver her own speech, in which she shared a message of gratitude towards her daughter, her co-stars, and her fans, calling those in attendance “gorgeous” and adding, “Every single one of you. I love you [all] so much.”
“The most important person in this world is my daughter,” Applegate said according to Yahoo! Entertainment. “You are so much more than even you know. You are so beautiful and kind and smart and interesting. I’m blessed every day that I get to wake up and take you to school…thank you for standing by me through all of this.”
Dead to Me season 3, starring Christina Applegate, will be available on Netflix starting November 17th.