Christina Applegate’s daughter, 13, admits it’s ‘hard’ watching mom ‘lose a lot of the abilities’ amid MS battle

Christina Applegate’s daughter Sadie opened up about struggling to watch her mother’s battle with multiple sclerosis.

While welcoming her daughter on the MeSsy podcast, which she co-hosts with pal Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who also lives with MS, the Dead to Me star, 52, described her teenager as the best guest she ‘could possibly ever have’ and her reason to ‘get up in the morning.’

The 13-year-old, who the Emmy-winning actress shares with her husband Martyn Le Noble, revealed it was her idea to come on the MeSsy podcast and speak about her own experience as a child of someone suffering from MS. 

‘When she got diagnosed, it kind of just felt like…not like everything was over but it was hard seeing my mom lose a lot of the abilities she used to have in my childhood,’ Sadie told listeners. 

She continued: ‘When I was a kid, we would dance in her room for hours at a time.’ 

Although Sadie said it’s been a ‘difficult’ time for their family, the teen emphasized ‘it’s also been nice being able to help her and support her.’ 

Still, Sadie quipped that her mom can be reluctant to accept her assistance.  

‘Every time we go to a concert, she always is like, “You cannot push my wheelchair, Sadie, you’re going to run into a wall,'” she said. ‘And I will beg. I’m just like, “Please, mom, let me push your wheelchair.” Because I want to help her, so that’s definitely why I want to do it, but it’s also funny because she’s always saying, “No, I want this person to do it”… and it’s never me.’

Applegate then playfully mused to Sadie she gets ‘afraid that…if there was like a ramp that’ Sadie ‘would just let go’ to be ‘funny.’ 

Despite her occasional worries, the Hollywood native pointed out her daughter was ‘darn good at pushing the wheelchair.’ 

After she was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in June 2021, Sadie recalled how Applegate made her ‘put on socks with sand or like balloons with sand’ to ‘help’ her ‘understand the pain of walking.’ 

‘It was a very uncomfortable experience,’ Sadie noted. 

Sadie also spoke about her own health issues, including misophonia, which is a ‘strong dislike or hatred of certain sounds,’ according to WebMD.

While welcoming her daughter on her podcast, which she co-hosts with pal Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who also lives with MS, the Dead to Me star, 52, described her teenager as the best guest she ‘could possibly ever have’ and her reason for getting ‘up in the morning’ (seen in 2022)

The condition can cause someone to have unusually strong emotions, body changes or reactive behaviors that compromises functioning, socializing and one’s mental health. 

Additionally, she was recently diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS.) 

POTS is an abnormality of the autonomic nervous system that can cause an excessively fast heart rate and symptoms of lightheadedness.

‘When my mom’s like, “I’m in pain right now. I’m having tremors.” If I didn’t have [POTS], I probably would be like…I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I actually have tremors from POTS,’ Sadie explained. ‘It’s definitely a lot easier to understand what she’s going through when I have something I’m going through as well.’

Over the years, Sadie has escorted her mother to various star-studded events like the 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards and the 2024 Emmy Awards. 

The 13-year-old, who the Emmy-winning actress shares with her husband Martyn Le Noble, revealed it was her idea to come on the MeSsy podcast and speak about her own experience of navigating life following her mother’s MS diagnosis

‘When she got diagnosed, it kind of just felt like…not like everything was over but it was hard seeing my mom lose a lot of the abilities she used to have in my childhood,’ Sadie told listeners (seen in February 2023)

In March, Applegate admitted that multiple sclerosis has changed her ability to parent. 

‘She’s had to see the loss of her mom, in the way that I was a mom with her,’ the actress told People. ‘Dancing with her every day. Picking her up from school every day. Working at her school, working in the library. Being present out of the house, out of my bed. She doesn’t see those things anymore.’ 

She added: ‘This is a loss for her as well. And we’re both learning as we’re going along.’ 

Back in 2018, Applegate gushed that her daughter had a very ‘entertaining’ personality and was talented at comedy, playing the piano and doing accents. 

‘She’s got a lot of accents in her repertoire,’ the performer told People, at the time. ‘She’s such a goofball.’ 

Applegate also noted that she has a ‘very strict rule’ that her teen has to wait until she’s at least 18 to pursue acting, if she chooses. 

‘Under my roof, you train and you become the best that you can be,’ the star said. ‘And also have a good education because … the chances of being successful in this business are really, really [slim].’