Christina Applegate Reveals She 'Didn’t Eat' for '20 Years' Amid Past Eating Disorder: 'I Thought My Face Was Mediocre at Best'

Christina Applegate’s negative relationship with food spanned two decades.

In a Monday, March 2, interview on Good Morning America, the actress, 54, revealed that she “didn’t eat” for 20 years as she struggled with an eating disorder.

“It was awful. It was this standard that I placed upon myself, and then it became so psychological and so screwed up. It was 20 years of my life that I didn’t eat,” she disclosed.

The TV star, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021, expanded upon how her negative body image affected her in her new memoir, You With the Sad Eyes.

“As my fame grew, my self-esteem shrank. I wished someone would notice, but when you’re a celebrity, your life looks like a cakewalk. My sad eyes were crying, but no one could see,” she wrote.

Applegate added that she thought her face was “mediocre at best,” and no matter how hard she worked on her body, she was “never satisfied.”

Applegate lamented her inability to practice compassion toward herself throughout her life.

“I don’t know why we can’t find self-love. It’s such a crazy thing…my daughter said to me when we were leaving, ‘You look so beautiful, mom.’ Why can’t we see our freaking beauty?” she questioned during Monday’s interview. “We don’t see what other people see, and it’s really devastating. There’s such a false narrative that’s happening, this idea to be perfect, and what is perfect?”

The Married…With Children alum admitted it was “really hard” opening up her old diaries and exposing herself to past trauma for You With the Sad Eyes.

“Those things that I wrote in my diary, in my journals, were locked in a box. I never wanted anyone to see them, and for some reason, I was like alright lets open it up…” she said. “I know there are a lot of people who have been abused and have lived really hard times, and I just felt like, ‘I’m here for you.’”

Among the traumas Applegate uncovered in her memoir was an abusive past relationship.

“He said, ‘No one’s ever going to love you the way I love you.’ And at some point, you’re either so scared or you just believe it, that you’re not worthy enough for any other kind of love,” she recalled. “I really, really, really feel so deeply that I wanted to share, because I know how many women get themselves into an abusive relationship, and society says, ‘I’m a strong woman. I would’ve gotten out.’ You know what? No….there are people going through some dark c--- all the time, and they feel alone.”

“I still feel alone in the sense that there's a whole thing that we all want to feel understood. What’s that feeling of being understood feel like? I don’t know. I’d just like to feel less alone,” she added.