Katie Couric and Christina Applegate have more than a few things in common. For one, they’ve both battled breast cancer. And they’re both very open about their health journeys. Applegate was 36 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, and went public with the news shortly after. Now, Applegate’s battling multiple sclerosis, which she was diagnosed with in 2021, and she’s not holding back about how it’s impacted her. 

She uses her podcast with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who has relapsing multiple sclerosis, as a platform to discuss the disease, as well as other life hurdles. And she’s as honest as ever. 

Katie was recently on their podcast, MeSsy, which we’ve turned into an episode of Next Question, and the three women discuss the value of being open about health when you’re a public figure. 

Applegate recalled the inauthentic way she presented her breast cancer diagnosis. “I was on Oprah and stuff and I was all like, ‘Oh, I love my [new] boobs.’ And ‘yay! This was such a blessing.’ And I was so full of shit, Katie. I was so full of shit about how I actually was feeling,” she said. 

Now she knows “it’s OK to be super honest about how you’re feeling because I think you’re going to help more people if people can relate to that pain.”

Sigler, who was diagnosed with RMS in her 20s while filming The Sopranos, can relate. “I used to have this fantasy, in the 16 or so years that I didn’t tell anybody that I had MS, that one day when I’m better, I’ll talk about it. When it’s all wrapped up in a beautiful bow, and I heal this thing, I’ll talk about it,” she said on the podcast. “And what I realize now, in this exercise of talking about it while I’m still very much in it, is this is what people need to hear. People connect when you’re in it. People connect when you’re where they’re at. There’s such comfort and strength that comes with that,” she said. “I feel so bolstered by this MS and MeSsy community…in a way that I have never felt before just by being honest and vulnerable. And I attribute Christina to really bringing that out in me in a raw, authentic way that I wasn’t able to quite tap into before.”

Applegate responded, “That’s because I’m pissed off.”

Find out why and how she’s addressing that anger by listening to the rest of the conversation.