Christina Applegate reunites with ‘Married … With Children’ TV dad Ed O’Neill: ‘He raised me’
Christina Applegate owes it all to her former TV dad, Ed O’Neill.
Applegate, 52, reunited with O’Neill, 78, on Tuesday’s episode of her “MeSsy” podcast and they gushed over their relationship that started on the beloved sitcom “Married … With Children.”
“I don’t even know how to explain this person,” said Applegate as she introduced O’Neill as the guest.
“He raised me, so if you don’t like anything about me, it’s his fault,” she added. “Years, years of my life spent with this man and he’s an incredible actor, he’s an incredible human being.”
Applegate starred on “Married … With Children” as Kelly Bundy, the daughter of Al (O’Neill) and Peggy Bundy (Katey Sagal).
The show, which also featured David Faustino as Kelly’s brother, Bud, aired on Fox from 1987 to 1997.
Applegate, who was a teenager on the show, recalled how O’Neill acted like a real-life father figure to her when they worked together.
“Eddie knows that I went through so many behind-the-scenes stuff in my life that I was kind of breaking apart,” she explained.
“And so my way of keeping myself together was keeping this armor up. I mean, he went through everything with me. My mom’s cancer and other things that we’ll talk about in a later date,” Applegate added.
O’Neill told Applegate’s co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler that his former TV daughter was “a pro” on the show.
“It was great to work with her,” the “Modern Family” alum said. “It’s hilarious. It was always fun to work with Christina.”
While it’s been over 25 years since they were co-stars, Applegate told O’Neill she’s grateful that he’s still in her life.
“I love our relationship now, Eddie,” Applegate said. “Like our relationship now of me being 52 years old. And the fact that you and I can talk on the phone for hours and giggle and talk about everything.
“Like, we talk a lot,” she went on. “I talk to you more than I talk to anyone else on the telephone. I really do.”
Applegate previously revealed on an episode of her podcast that she had anorexia when she was shooting “Married … With Children.”
She said dealing with the eating disorder was “f–king torture” and recalled her mom put her on Weight Watchers when she was 15, which was when the show premiered.
Applegate’s small frame on the show was “very scary to everyone” behind the camera, she shared.
“They were like, ‘Christina never eats.’ They talked to me about it. But to me, I was enormous.”
The actress eventually overcame anorexia, but years later she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which Sigler also suffers from.
Applegate has stepped away from her acting career because of her health battle. She said her Netflix series “Dead to Me,” which ended after three seasons in 2022, would likely be her final onscreen role.
