Christina Applegate Says She Relies on Reality TV — Including Some Bravo Favorites! — to Cope with MS

Christina Applegate has a relative answer to what gets her through the rough days.

The Dead to me star, 52, appeared on James Corden’s SiriusXM show This life of mine talk about living with multiple sclerosis. When Corden asked if music helped her get through challenging times, she admitted that she actually has another outlet that she prefers.

“I find reality television very useful, that’s kind of it for me,” she said. “Everyone who knows me well knows that he is in my room 24/7 because I don’t leave my room very often. I know it sounds really depressing, but it’s kind of like I have to sleep sometimes.”

Christina Applegate Reveals She’s Working on a Memoir: ‘I’m Writing It Right Now’

Christina Applegate (left) and James Corden (right).

Emma McIntyre/Getty

As for her favorite shows, Applegate said “everything” reality does the trick for her.

“Give me any of that,” she joked. “Give me a Vanderpump [Rules]give me a Below deckgive me a [Real] Housewifeeven give me Kitchen nightmares with Gordon Ramsay — I’ll watch about nine seasons of that in about two days.”

“I really like seeing the imperfections of real people,” she continued. “Like wow, these people exist, I love it. That’s why I love reality TV because it drives me crazy that they walk the earth acting like that.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The actress was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021 after “feeling sick for so long,” she told Corden. When she finally got the diagnosis, she said she was glad to know what was wrong, but when she heard it was MS, it was hard to wrap her head around it.

“For years and years and years, I would have some weird things like balance problems, speech problems, my hands would shake sometimes,” she said. “And I remember playing tennis, I played tennis a few times a week, and my knee would blow out. It was like, ‘Oh, I’m dehydrated. It’s too hot outside. However.'”

Christina Applegate Clarifies Her ‘I’m Not Enjoying Life’ Comments, Reassures Fans ‘I’m Fine’

Christina Applegate.

Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty

Applegate said in January 2021, just before Dead to me was ready to film the final season, she noticed that her toes would go numb, which she would mistake for muscle cramps from hiking. When filming began, she revealed she couldn’t “even climb the stairs to my trailer”.

“After some tests, they did an MRI of my brain and it was Monday, we were at work and my doctor said, ‘I really need to go on Zoom with you to review your MRI results,'” she recalled. “I remember saying [crew]’I have to go. I have to go home and be there at seven.’ And they said, ‘Well, we’ve got one more scene to do,’ and I just said, ‘I can’t. I have to go home.”

Christine Applegate’s 13-year-old daughter admits it’s ‘hard’ for her to see her mother living with MS: ‘I want to help’

When she spoke with her doctor on Zoom, Applegate said she could tell she was going to get bad news.

“[The doctor] he just looked at me and said, ‘I’m so sorry,’ and I said, ‘What do you mean?'” she said. “He says, ‘Here’s a picture of your brain. I’m sorry,’ and I had like 30 lesions all over my brain, and I said, ‘No, please, don’t tell me that. Please don’t tell me that.’”

Christina Applegate.

Kevin Winter/Getty

Panic, Leader the alum said she immediately knew she had to say Dead to me production because her diagnosis would affect her role in the series. When she called them, she didn’t really have all the words.

“I said, ‘Society, it’s freaking MS,'” she told Corden. “And they say, ‘Okay, we’re closing for a week.’ That was it. And then we were just trying to figure out how to shoot it, and we did it. It took us a long time, but we did it.”

“I remember that moment like it was yesterday,” she concluded.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education