Christina Applegate admits she lied about her double mastectomy being 'a blessing' amid breast cancer battle

Christina Applegate admitted that she had lied when she called her 2008 double mastectomy 'a blessing' following an early stage breast cancer diagnosis. 

The 54-year-old actress - who dropped her bombshell memoir You With The Sad Eyes on March 3 - candidly wrote about the topic in the book, saying she has regrets over the statement to this day.

'Frankly, I was disgusted by what came out of my mouth,' the Dead To Me star penned in an excerpt, per the New York Post. 

Applegate had previously tested positive for the genetic mutation BRCA1 (also known as the breast cancer gene) which also prompted her to undergo the double mastectomy. 

Later during an interview with Oprah Winfrey, she made the comment that it was a blessing - but explained in her memoir that it had been 'way of coping with how brokenhearted I was to lose my breasts.'

Years later, Applegate has expressed that she is still 'emotionally and physically mangled' by the health incident before sharing that 'the organization mitigates the terrible loss I felt and feel.' 

Because she hadn't been honest at the time about the impact of the surgery, the star wrote that she felt she caused more harm than good to 'others and myself.' 

'It should have been a moment to share the truth. I thought I should tell everyone that it was a blessing,' the actress said, referring to her interview with Winfrey in 2008.

'Here's how I feel about that interview now. It was bulls**t,' Applegate candidly penned. 

'I had lied, thinking I was being uplifting. I was acting like Little Ms. Warrior, but that's not how I really felt.' 

She further continued, 'There I was, talking about f***ing blessings when they were going through a living hell.'

The actress explained that at the time she had been 'alone and sad and mourning something that is the most intimate and devastating of amputations, and no amount of plastic surgery can ever make up for it.' 

During her past interview with Winfrey shortly after the double mastectomy, she recalled having a conversation with fellow breast cancer survivor Melissa Etheridge. 

'The first thing she said to me is: "Christina, this is a blessing that's happened to you in your life..."' 

However, Applegate had revealed to Winfrey that she still suffered an emotional toll after the surgery. 

'I cry at least once a day about it because it's hard to overlook it when you're standing there in the mirror.'

She added, 'When you look down, it's the first thing you see...So you're reminded constantly of this thing - this cancer thing that you had.' 

Applegate was diagnosed with breast cancer following an MRI. The cancer had been in one of her breasts but was caught at an early stage. 

She also tested for the BRCA1 gene, and the results came in positive. 

In regards to the double mastectomy, the Married... With Children star said, 'It can be very painful. 

'It's also a part of you that's gone, so you go through a grieving process and a mourning process.' 

Back in 2024, she further reflected on her breast cancer journey during an episode of the Armchair Expert podcast.  

The actress also shared how she had not been fully honest on her feelings towards the double mastectomy. 

'I learned that lesson the hard way because in 2008, when I had breast cancer at 36 years old, I went out.

'And I was the good girl talking about "Oh, I love my new boobs" that are all scarred and f***ed up. What was I thinking?'

She remembered talking to Robin Roberts at the time and crying afterwards 'because it was a lie.'

'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.' 

Five years earlier in 2021, Applegate revealed that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).

MS is a chronic autoimmune disease where 'the immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers, known as myelin,' per Mayo Clinic. 

It 'can cause numbness, weakness, trouble walking, vision changes and other symptoms' and also 'interrupts communication between the brain and the rest of the body.' 

In her new memoir, Applegate penned, 'I'm not going to lie anymore. MS sucks.

'It's not like you can get rid of the cancer, get breast reconstruction and move on, which was certainly how I described my journey to Oprah, Robin [Roberts] and others.'

Last month, the actress revealed that she is mostly confined to her bed amid her MS battle while talking to People. 

However, she does her best to still be there for her teenage daughter Sadie, 15, such as taking her to school. 

'I want to take her; it's my favorite thing to do. It's the only time we have together by ourselves.' 

Applegate added, 'I tell myself, "Just get her there safely and get home so you can get back into bed." And that's what I do.'