Did Christina Applegate have her appendix burst? Actress reveals why she was hospitalized with "so much pain"

Actress Christina Applegate revealed she was recently hospitalized after a kidney infection. During the Tuesday, August 4, 2025, episode of her podcast MeSsy, Applegate explained that she and co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler were recording from a hospital in Los Angeles.

Noting that she was unsure about the exact diagnosis, she continued:

"I'm not doing a podcast from the hospital because I felt like doing one from the hospital was an awesome idea."

The Married With Children alum added:

"We just happen to have this scheduled and they won't let me leave yet because things are, things are messy, but I'm going to be OK."

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by MeSsy (@messypodcast)

Applegate explained that she began feeling unwell during a recent holiday. This prompted her to rush straight to the hospital after her flight back home. The actress explained that her pain was so intense that she was "screaming." Noting that the ache was localized to her right side, she wondered if her appendix was bursting. However, that was not the case, and CT scans revealed she had an infection in both of her kidneys.

Christina Applegate's doctors initially wondered if a UTI moved upwards, causing the kidney infection

During Tuesday's episode of MeSsy, Christina Applegate told co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler she was visiting family in Europe when she began feeling unwell. After her flight back, she immediately rushed to the hospital, reasoning:

"I was really afraid to go back home and get to the point where I was so bad that like at 3 in the morning, my poor friend has to drive me, and it's a Saturday night and it's going to be horrible."

She elaborated that she planned on staying there until the medical emergency was resolved, as she didn't want to keep coming back.

The next day, the "right side in (her) back" began paining to the point she worried her appendix might be bursting. Christina Applegate continued:

"They ordered me an emergency CT at 2 o'clock in the morning. I went in and got a CT. And I had kidney infections."

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by MeSsy (@messypodcast)

Doctors immediately put her on intravenous antibiotics. They initially speculated that she had a UTI (urinary tract infection) that spread to her kidneys, causing an infection. Noting that she took issue with the same, she continued:

"Like, what am I back-wiping? Like, seriously, I'm 53," jokingly adding, "'Yes, I love to take my own sh*t and wipe it into my v*gina hole.’ I have the cleanest v*gina. I’m a clean girl down yonder."

In a statement made to Entertainment Weekly, Christina Applegate's representative noted she was hospitalized for seven days and is home now.

During the March 19 episode of her podcast, the Dead to Me actress opened up about her health journey since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in August 2021. She revealed:

"For three years, since I was diagnosed, I’ve been in the hospital upwards of 30 times from throwing up and diarrhea and pain."

The actress elaborated that she had done every test known to man, calling it "unimaginable." She went on to urge the podcast listeners to talk to their respective doctors about mobility issues. She explained that MS "slows down" other organs, but not "completely."

It is worth noting that both Applegate and Sigler have been diagnosed with MS. The pair uses the podcast to share the ups and downs of living with the disease.