Christina Applegate Leaves “Married with Children,” Advocates Multiple Sclerosis Awareness After Diagnosis

Christina Applegate speaks onstage during the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards at Peacock Theater on Jan. 15, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images/TNS)

Following a recent hospitalization in March 2026, actress Christina Applegate has officially retired from acting after years of roles in shows such as “Married With Children” and “Bad Moms.”

She had to retire after her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis (MS) in June 2021. MS is an autoimmune disease that damages the nerve covering in the nervous system. The symptoms include numbness and tingling, electric shock sensations, lack of coordination, trouble walking, weakness, partial or complete loss of vision, double vision, dizziness, fatigue, slurred speech, trouble with memory, and mood swings. 

In Applegate’s case, her symptoms include numbness and tingling in her limbs, heavy legs, loss of balance, intense neuropathic pain, and MS hug sensations. She was recently released and is now recovering at home. 

In a post on Instagram from April 21, Applegate wrote, “Thank you for the outpouring of love and support and well wishes. Health issues are constant for me, but I’m a strong chick, and I’m getting stronger and better every day. I’m taking a moment to focus on my health, but I’ll be back with more to say soon enough.”

I’m very happy to see her out of the hospital and back at home. Her health indicates that MS awareness is important as it sheds light on the seriousness of the illness, helps people with MS feel heard, and helps MS patients get support and healing. Applegate has done many interviews with media outlets such as “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” and “ABC News” to tell her story. 

Around 1 million people in the United States are living with and battling MS, including other celebrities such as Selma Blair, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and Tamia Hill. Applegate has done press about MS awareness because she wants to be an advocate and to bring relatability to her fellow patients. 

Part of her advocacy and relatability has been writing and releasing a book called “You With the Sad Eyes” on March 3. Additionally, she has a podcast with Jamie-Lynn Sigler called “Messy” to build community with MS patients. MS awareness is important right now because the disease is common, but unseen, which leads to people thinking that nothing is wrong when looking at a patient.