Christina Applegate Shares First Video Since Her 4-Month Hospital Stay

• Christina Applegate posted a short video on Instagram on Monday, Sept. 21, her first time showing her face to fans since a hospital stay of nearly four months.
• She showed off new hair color and joked about a “new weird spot” on her cheek. She signed off with “love to you all out there.”
• Her representative has not said why she was hospitalized. She has lived with multiple sclerosis since 2021.

A first look, on her terms. Christina Applegate, 54, posted a brief Instagram video on Monday, her first since she went into the hospital in late March and stayed until early August.

In the clip she looks straight into the camera, smiles and turns her head to show off a fresh blonde color. The caption:

Fresh hair color, new weird spot on my cheek haha thank you @davestanwell for brightening up my cloudy day. Love you and love to you all out there.

Christina Applegate, via Instagram

How is Christina Applegate doing now?

She is home. Applegate was discharged in early August after nearly four months in the hospital, and a source close to her said at the time that she was “home and doing well.”

Monday’s video is the first time since then that she has shown herself on camera. The “weird spot” is her own joke; she did not say what it is.

While she was still in the hospital, she posted a message that is the closest thing to a health update she has given:

I’m a strong chick and I’m getting stronger and better every day. I’m taking a moment to focus on my health, but I’ll be back with more to say soon enough.

Christina Applegate, via Instagram

Why was Christina Applegate in the hospital?

That has not been made public. Her representative declined to give a reason, pointing to what the rep called her “long history of complicated medical conditions,” which she has discussed in her memoir and on her podcast.

When was Christina Applegate diagnosed with MS?

She announced her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in August 2021, while filming the third and final season of Netflix’s Dead to Me. MS is a disease in which the immune system attacks the protective covering of nerves in the brain and spinal cord, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH).

She told Good Morning America in 2024 that the first sign was “literally just tingling on my toes” in early 2021. By that summer, she said, she was being brought to set in a wheelchair.

She has said she probably had it for “six or seven years” before the diagnosis, and credits her The Sweetest Thing co-star Selma Blair, who also has MS, with pushing her to get tested.

In January 2024 she received a standing ovation as a presenter at the Emmys. Since 2024 she has co-hosted the podcast MeSsy with Jamie-Lynn Sigler of The Sopranos, who was diagnosed with MS at 20.

More from today: Presley Gerber, Cindy Crawford’s son, has died at 27, and Carrot Top is awake and recovering in Las Vegas. Earlier this month, Kim Kardashian shared her own diagnosis. More from Celebrities.

— Bruno Monteiro

Sources: Christina Applegate, Instagram, Sept. 21, 2026, and her Instagram message during the hospital stay; statement from her representative; Good Morning America interview (ABC, March 2024). National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health (NIH) (definition of multiple sclerosis). TMZ (discharge, Aug. 3, 2026). Photos and video: Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler speak out about battle with MS (Good Morning America / ABC).