The Tragic, Real-Life Story Of Christina Applegate
Some stars have been in the industry for so long that they're part of our pop culture DNA. Christina Applegate is one of them. The Hollywood-born icon first made her acting debut in an episode of "Days of Our Lives" in 1972, steadily working her way up in the industry before landing the role that made her a household name: Kelly Bundy in "Married with Children." Over the years, she cemented herself as a painfully funny, striking beauty who could turn her hand to any number of roles. But, despite her fame and fortune, life hasn't always been kind to Applegate.
In fact, she's encountered things that would make your average person crumble under the pressure. From an illness that ravaged its way through her family to the death of a lover and the demise of a career before its time, Applegate has been through the wringer — and it's not over yet. It just goes to show that all that glitters isn't gold, and being a movie star doesn't make you immune to life's problems.
Regardless, Applegate has tried to make the most of her situation and has largely come out the other side, proving that when life hands you lemons, you can make lemonade — though it's not over yet.
She battled anorexia as a young star
Christina Applegate is one of many child actors that grew up to be stunning, but believe it or not, she didn't always have confidence in herself. To viewers watching her play Kelly Bundy on "Married with Children", Applegate may have looked like any regular young Hollywood actress of her time — the trouble is young actors are often put under an enormous amount of pressure to look as perfect as they can, even if perfect isn't healthy. At the time, Applegate's struggles with anorexia weren't public knowledge, but she later spoke about it on her podcast, "MeSsy."
"I just deprived myself of food for years and years and years," recalled Applegate in a 2024 episode, according to Fox News. "It was torture. It was f—ing torture." She went on to describe just how badly she wanted to be skinny on her show, especially since she had opted to wear revealing clothing. The cast and crew were well aware something was up, explained the star. "It was very scary to everyone on set because they were like, 'Christina never eats.' And I didn't. They talked to me about it."
Despite being so thin that the costume department had to alter her outfits especially for her, Applegate still felt she was "enormous." Some days, she confessed, she would eat no more than five almonds. If she exceeded the limit by just one, she wouldn't go outside for the rest of the day.
Christina Applegate divorced her first husband
It's no secret that romances in the public eye can be really hard to maintain. Just take Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's contentious court battle as an example. Even if a couple manages to stay together for years, it's not always guaranteed that they'll make it all the way. Christina Applegate thought she'd found the real deal when she met actor Jonathan Schaech in 1997. The couple were together for 10 years before they divorced in 2007. At the time, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Schaech walked away with $1.5 million, one of Applegate's cement Buddhas, and a Mercedes-Benz S500.
For her part, Applegate kept $7.5 million and two houses that the couple previously shared, as well as a Lexus. Though the actress has largely kept quiet on the split, Schaech has gone on record to say just how excruciating the divorce was. He even sat down with his second wife, Jana Kramer, years after their divorce to admit that he struggled to get over Applegate, which ultimately led to the demise of their union, too.
"Jana, you're an incredible human being. I wanted that to be part of my life," said the actor via Us Weekly. "I thought that you would heal me and make my life better. And I thought I had to marry you to get that." Applegate has opted to keep her pain private, probably to avoid speculation surrounding the highly-publicized split.
Her grandmother died tragically before she was born
Everyone wants to grow up knowing their grandparents, but it's not always a guarantee. Some have already died before we're even born, and in Christina Applegate's case, it was a tragedy that rocked her family. During an appearance on the popular ancestry show "Who Do You Think You Are?" in 2014, Applegate unearthed a startling truth. She always knew that her father's mother had died younger than most, as her dad, Bob Applegate, was raised by his grandparents and other family members. As she dug into her past during the show, the actress traveled back to her dad's hometown in New Jersey.
What she found was also news to Bob, who had believed that his mother died when he was 8. He was actually 13 and had no idea that she had passed away from tuberculosis after struggling with alcoholism issues for years. While the revelation was painful for both the star and her father to learn, it brought Bob closure and even helped to repair the father-daughter relationship.
According to HuffPost, Applegate admitted that the entire process saw them hug more than they had for the entirety of her life, which adds a bittersweet layer to this family story. "The beauty of this is that you can be incredibly proud that you broke the pattern, and that you raised all of us with giving us strength," Applegate told her father.
One of her boyfriends died from a drug overdose
After separating from her husband in 2005, Christina Applegate moved on by dating fisherman Lee Grivas. Grivas was much younger than the actress, but that didn't stop the pair from dating on and off for years, according to TMZ. In a since-deleted article ran by People, Grivas gushed about their relationship, stating (via HuffPost): "We're very happy with each other. I like making her smile and she likes making me smile. It's really innocent and fun." Sadly, tragedy would strike Applegate's life again in 2008 when Grivas was found dead from an apparent drug overdose in the living room of his Hollywood apartment. Grivas was just 26 at the time.
In a statement, Applegate lamented his loss, telling Extra via TV Guide, "I am profoundly saddened. Lee was an incredible human being who was an extremely important and beautiful part of my life. He is missed beyond words. He touched so many and I feel much sadness for his mother, brother and all of his family friends."
As Grivas wasn't a public figure himself, not much is known about the circumstances around his death. Though Applegate hasn't commented on the loss of her former boyfriend since the incident occurred, it's not a stretch to say it's left a mark on her that will likely stay with her forever.
Christina Applegate was stalked in a terrifying ordeal
When you're a famous celebrity (and a beautiful one at that) fans gravitate towards you. While some may just want to say hi and thanks for the laughs, others turn their appreciation into a grave fascination that can become dangerous for everyone involved. In Hollywood, stalkers are no joke. There are more famous celebrities with terrifying stalker stories than you might realize, and unfortunately for Christina Applegate, she has her own tale to share.
Back in 2012, a Twitter user ominously tweeted Applegate's then-fiance, Martyn LeNoble to say (according to TMZ): "You stole [Christina] away from me. If not for you she would be mine. I will not accept this. I am going to kill you!!!!!!!!!" Several other violent messages followed with more disturbing threats, causing the LAPD to serve a warrant to Twitter HQ in San Fransisco in order to try and identify where these messages were coming from.
The most disturbing thing of all? There were no reports that the person who sent the messages was ever found or brought to justice. If the stalker was dealt with, that information was kept firmly out of the public view. Let's hope Applegate and LeNoble (who is now her husband) have put this terrifying incident firmly in the past.
Her mom had breast cancer twice
Christina Applegate spent most of her childhood being raised by her mom, Nancy Priddy, after her parents divorced when she was just a baby. Though the actress hasn't spoken much about her childhood, it was revealed on her "Who Do You Think You Are?" episode that she hadn't spent that much time seeing her father as she grew up. How terrifying it must have been, then, for the young star when her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was just seven years old. As a child in a single-parent household, that must have brought about a lot of uncertainty and worry. Thankfully for Applegate, Priddy was able to recover, but it wasn't over.
Priddy had a reoccurrence many years later, but just like the first time, she was able to conquer the illness. Our knowledge of how Priddy's cancer impacted the family as a whole is limited, but her mother's illness did make Applegate think more about her own health. While it's a horrible thing for anyone to go through, Priddy's illness ultimately helped her daughter.
Had Priddy not had her own cancer diagnosis, Applegate may never have taken her own risk of getting the disease so seriously or got checked out when she was supposed to, which ultimately ended up saving her life. More on that coming up.
Christina had cancer herself in her 30s
Years after her mother's cancer diagnosis, Christina Applegate was told that she, too, had breast cancer. Just like her mom, Applegate was in her late 30s at the time, and according to an interview with Women's Health, she discovered that she had the disease after an MRI and a biopsy came back with worrying results. The actress called her mom and let her emotions pour out. "I lay in her lap and just screamed and screamed," Applegate recalled. "Even though it ran in my family, I never in a million years thought it would happen to me. I was scared shitless."
After receiving her diagnosis, Applegate decided to get tested for the BRCA gene, which came back positive. On the back of that, she made the brave decision to have a double mastectomy, even though cancer was only found in one of her breasts. She didn't want to take the risk of the illness returning at a later date. She later underwent reconstructive surgery.
Initially, Applegate tried to keep her diagnosis and treatment out of the spotlight, but it wasn't long before the press found out anyway. Though she didn't feel quite ready to talk about it at the time, it wasn't long before it became part of her narrative that she could control. Applegate recovered and soon got involved with other celebrity survivors, such as Sheryl Crow, to raise money for cancer charities.
She had to endure personal public comments in 2023
Christina Applegate's health struggles have been well-documented over the last few years, which is why we won't go into them in too much detail. The "Dead to Me" star has been very vocal about her MS diagnosis and how it's impacted everything from her career to her personal life. The vast majority of her peers and fans have been incredibly supportive of Applegate as she navigates this turbulent time, but there are always some out there who will weaponize revelations like this for no good reason.
In 2023, Applegate attended the Critics Choice Awards alongside her children, marking her first appearance at a public event since she first revealed her MS diagnosis in 2021. Though Applegate looked stunning in a black tuxedo dress and Hollywood glam hair, one person commented on a People article telling the actress that MS wasn't responsible for her changing appearance but bad plastic surgery. Applegate reached out to the commenter and as you can imagine, the response wasn't quite as warm as one may have expected.
Applegate shared the exchange on Twitter, with many fans rallying behind her to leave sweet messages of support. In a previous interview with the New York Times, Applegate explained, "This is the first time anyone's going to see me the way I am. I put on 40 pounds; I can't walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that."
Christina Applegate probably won't act on camera again
Though she has overcome numerous tragedies in her life, the sad fact is you'll probably never see Christina Applegate act again. Despite carving out a solid career for herself and even having a successful comeback with Netflix's "Dead to Me", Applegate's health means that she probably won't act again — at least, not in the way that we're used to seeing her perform. She told Vanity Fair in 2023 after filming the last season of the show, "I can't even imagine going to set right now. This is a progressive disease. I don't know if I'm going to get worse."
Being able to participate in the last season of the show was a particularly grueling task for Applegate, who admitted, "Season [3] was written over a year before this all was shot. None of us knew I was going to be sick and gain 40 pounds from medication and have immobility." She went on to confess that she probably won't work on camera again, and if that's the case, was so pleased to have worked with "the greatest actress I've ever worked with in my life", aka Linda Cardellini.
For fans who have watched Applegate grow up in the limelight and make her way through so much strife, it's a heartbreaking turn of events. That being said, Applegate hasn't let anything break her spirit to date, proving that she is made of tough stuff.