Christina Applegate opened up in an emotional and incredibly raw moment on her podcast this week, revealing through tears that her father, Robert Applegate, has passed away at the age of 82, reported HuffPost.
The Married… with Children star, 53, shared the heartbreaking news on her MeSsy podcast, which she co-hosts with friend and fellow MS warrior Jamie-Lynn Sigler. During the episode, which aired 29 April, the topic of grief came up when guest JoAnna Garcia Swisher was talking about losing her own parents—and it suddenly hit Christina hard.
“You’re probably wondering why I’m crying right now. I’m sorry. My dad just passed away a week ago, and this is the first time I’ve really cried,” she said, voice shaking and clearly overwhelmed.
She admitted she hadn’t properly let herself feel the weight of it until that moment. “I think I wasn’t allowing myself to have that [moment] yet, too busy with this, too busy with that,” she said. “We knew he was going to die. Is that an excuse for not feeling because you know someone’s going to go? And you’ve said your goodbyes.”
Jamie-Lynn had gently asked her beforehand whether discussing her father might be too much, to which Christina had said she’d be fine—but in the end, the grief came rushing in. “I feel insanely sad,” she admitted.
Though she didn’t grow up with her dad—her parents split when she was just five months old—Christina said they were still close. “He’s been in my life ever since,” she explained. While he “wasn’t part of the lessons part of life,” she shared that she has “two beautiful siblings and an amazing stepmother” because of him.
Guest JoAnna Garcia Swisher also got emotional, sharing her own painful memories of losing both her parents—her dad in 2019 and her mum in 2021. “I had to take both my parents off life support,” she said, calling it “equally as traumatic.” Christina responded with an idea to create “a platform for trauma,” hoping to help others navigate the same deep pain.
This loss comes at an already incredibly difficult time for Christina, who’s been dealing with multiple sclerosis since her diagnosis in 2021. She’s spoken publicly about the harsh toll the disease has taken, describing everything from searing pain to not being able to hold her phone or open a bottle.
“I just lay in bed all the time,” she said on an earlier podcast episode. “I worked for almost 50 years, so I’m kind of okay with it.” In a previous TV interview, she even admitted, “I’ve been living kind of in hell.”