Jamie-Lynn Sigler is pairing with Christina Applegate to release a new podcast about multiple sclerosis. The Sopranos actress has been living with the condition for 22 years, while the Married… With Children actress was diagnosed in August 2021.
The weekly podcast, MeSsy will debut on March 19, 2024. The two initially connected in 2021 when Christina first received her diagnosis. "I wanted to give her tools and things that I’ve learned that have helped me,” Jamie-Lynn said in a previous interview.
In response, Christina recalled, “We would talk on the phone for two hours, and we’d be laughing and crying, and we were like, ‘This is helping us. Let’s record this. Let’s do it.’” Now their journey of publicly sharing their stories is preparing to take off.
"March 19th. So much more to come. Messythepodcast.com," Jamie-Lynn posted to her Instagram account. Many fans expressed their excitement for the podcast. "As a fellow MSer….I Cannot wait for this! ," one person said. "Yes! I have MS and I can't wait to listen!" another user commented.
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Jamie-Lynn was diagnosed with MS at 20 years old and initially kept her diagnosis quiet. She didn't publicly share her condition until 15 years later. “It was probably the most surreal moment of my life,” she previously expressed. “I knew nothing about the disease, to be honest. I fortunately had a doctor who told me right away that as long as I stayed on treatment, there was no reason I couldn’t live a full life.”
She continued to share that she felt embarrassment after receiving her diagnosis, largely due to the fact of not being able to control the condition. “With something like MS, you lose control over things that you once had, and it’s slowly taken away from you, and that can chip away at your self worth and you can feel less than and a lot of negative feelings."
In an interview with People in 2023, she shared that upon sharing her diagnosis, her journey of "self-reflection and self-acceptance," began. “It was a big moment for me," she said. “I grew up with this idea that people are only going to be attracted to you when you’re perfect, and it’s quite the opposite. MS gave me my superpower, which is vulnerability, because the more raw and real and open I am — and this has forced me to be that — the more beautiful connections are.”
Over the years, she's discussed the symptoms of MS and how she's learned to deal with them. Her symptoms were first acute and manageable. Around 2005, however, she started experiencing incontinence and difficulty balancing. An industry professional that she confided in advised her to keep her diagnosis a secret, which she did.
In a 2019 essay, she wrote about how she “struggled silently,” as she managed to conceal her developing symptoms. “[MS has] definitely taken a lot from me: my ability to run, dance, jump, wear high heels,” she wrote. At the time, she shared she had a slight limp and needed medication to help control her bladder," she said.
Today, she continues to live her life as best she can despite her symptoms. “I’m uncomfortable 24/7,” Jamie-Lynn said. “I’m always a little stiff, I’m always a little achy. But I’ve been this way for so long, it’s my normal.”
