Star’s private ‘torture’ while making beloved 90s sitcom

One of the stars of hugely popular 90s sitcom Married … with Children was going through hell during filming, she’s now revealed.

Christina Applegate admits she suffered from anorexia while starring on Married … with Children as a teenage actress.

“I just deprived myself of food for years and years and years,” she revealed on the latest episode of her and Jamie-Lynn Sigler’s MeSsy podcast. “It was f**king torture.”

The Dead to Me star, now 52, said she was just 15 years old when she started her journey as Kelly Bundy on the hit TV series that ran from 1987 to 1997.

At the time, her mother, Nancy Priddy, put her on Weight Watchers to help manage her diet.

“She was always competitive,” Applegate said of Priddy. “If I got down to 110 [pounds – 50kg], she’d be like, ‘How’d you do it?’ And the reason was, I had an eating disorder.”

Applegate (centre, bottom) in Married … with Children circa 1996.

Applegate said she would eat “five almonds a day” when she filmed the show.

Applegate said she would eat “five almonds in a day.” And if she ate even one more, she “would cry and I wouldn’t want to leave the house.”

“And that stuck with me for years and years and years,” she added.

Applegate, who often wore crop tops and short skirts during her role as Bundy, said she “wanted my bones to be sticking out, so I didn’t eat.”

The actress said her weight alarmed the cast and crew of the hit TV series.

“It was very scary to everyone on set because they were like, ‘Christina never eats.’ They talked to me about it,” she shared.

Applegate said she thought she was “enormous” when her size 0 clothing had to be altered to fit.

Applegate says she may never act again as she lives with multiple sclerosis. Picture: Getty

She says she was dealing with a private “torture” during her Married With Children years. Picture: Getty

The Emmy winner’s candid revelation comes as she has been dealing with other health issues in recent years.

In early 2021, she revealed she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Back in January, Applegate cried as she received a standing ovation during her surprise appearance at the 2024 Emmys.

The mother of one walked on stage with a cane that read “FU MS” for her ongoing illness, which is a disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord, according to Mayo Clinic.

This story originally appeared on Page Six and is republished here with permission.

Originally published as Star’s private ‘torture’ while making beloved 90s sitcom