The first major health scare in Christina Applegate’s life came in 2008 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 36. At the time, the actress was in high demand, starring in the sitcom “Samantha Who?” which ran from 2007 until 2009. She decided to keep her condition a secret — one of many dark secrets of ’80s sitcom stars — until after her treatment, which included a double mastectomy to stop the cancer from returning.
Applegate later admitted that she regretted not being open about her illness. In an appearance on the “Armchair Expert” podcast, she recalled an interview shortly after her diagnosis. “My first interview was with Robin Roberts when I had cancer, and I’m sitting there lying my ass off about how I felt,” she said, adding that after the talk she burst into tears. “Everything I was saying was a freaking lie. It was me trying to convince myself of something, and I think that did no service to anyone.”
Sadly, Applegate has since complained of the treatment she received at the hands of her employers at the time. In an interview with Vanity Fair, she said after returning to work on “Samantha Who?” following her mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, the network executives at ABC were “not very sympathetic or empathetic human beings.” She also said she regrets not respecting her own boundaries more in terms of the speed with which she returned to work. In the aftermath of her breast cancer treatment, Applegate revealed that she has also had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed as precautionary measures to prevent other cancers.
