Christina Applegate reveals death of her father: 'The first time I've really cried'

USA Today

29-04-2025

Christina Applegate reveals death of her father: 'The first time I've really cried'
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Christina Applegate wants to have 'shots with Cher' amid MS battle
Christina Applegate has revealed what she would like to do 'with the days I have left,' and one of them is to do 'shots with Cher.'
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Christina Applegate is opening up while in the throes of the early stages of grief.
After JoAnna Garcia Swisher, the guest for the April 29 episode of Applegate's podcast "MeSsy," discussed the grief of losing her parents several years ago, Applegate explained why listeners could likely hear her sniffling.
"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," the "Married… with Children" star, 53, said.
Applegate, whose dad was Robert Applegate, did not share details about his death.
"I think I wasn't allowing myself to have that (moment) yet, too busy with this, too busy with that; 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."
She added that podcast co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler had asked her before recording whether the conversation might "trigger" Applegate.
"I (was) like, 'I'm going to be good,'" she said. "And now I'm insanely sad."
Applegate noted she "didn't grow up with my dad" because he and her mother separated when she was 5 months old. But "he's been in my life ever since."
JoAnna Garcia Swisher opens up about her parents' 'traumatic' deaths
Swisher, whose father died in 2019 and whose mother died in 2021, also got emotional as she described feeling "so insanely cheated that I don't have them," especially as a mom to two.
"I had to take both my parents off life support," she explained, adding that while her dad "died pretty quickly," her mother's death involved an 18-hour process. Both of her parents' deaths were "equally as traumatic," she said.
Later, Applegate expressed her desire to create "a platform for trauma," including her and Sigler's podcast.
What is MS? Christina Applegate, Selma Blair have shed light on the disease
Applegate, who revealed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2021, in recent years has shared the impacts of the autoimmune disease on her health.
She has been hospitalized "upwards of 30 times" since her diagnosis, she revealed in a recent podcast episode. And the symptoms, which can include mobility and balance issues, numbness and vision impairment, have made it difficult for her to be out in public.
"I live kind of in hell," she told ABC News last year. "I'm not out a lot, so this is a little difficult just for my system."