Christina Applegate feels she's 'let everybody down' after MS misdiagnosis

The Emmy-winning actress, 54, first announced her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2021

Web Desk

Published October 20, 2026

Christina Applegate says shes back at square one after multiple sclerosis misdiagnosis — Christina Applegate says she's 'back at square one' after multiple sclerosis misdiagnosis

Christina Applegate has revealed she does not have multiple sclerosis after all.

On the latest episode of her and Jamie-Lynn Sigler’s MeSsY podcast on Tuesday, October 20, the Emmy-winning actress, 54, broke down in tears as she discussed her misdiagnosis, five years after she went public with her MS battle.

“[My doctor] came into my room and said, ‘Congratulations, you don’t have MS,’” Applegate, 54, recalled. “I was, like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy.”

Their guest, neurologist Dr. Marwa Casey, explained that MS misdiagnoses are “fairly common” because there is no single test that definitively confirms the condition. In fact, there is a one in five chance of a misdiagnosis, which can lead to decades of incorrect treatment.

Applegate noted that learning she was misdiagnosed has left her feeling defeated. “You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of the sudden I’m better,” she said. “I haven’t gotten better, Jamie! If anything, I’ve gotten worse. So I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me.”

Applegate publicly revealed her MS diagnosis in 2021 and has continued to speak candidly about her health battle. But now, she feels as though she has “let everybody down” after being the “poster child for MS” for the past five years.

“Everything I was doing — I had a reason. I had a f***ing reason as to why my day sucked every day. And now I don’t have a reason and it’s very unnerving and it’s very confusing for me,” she admitted.