Christina Applegate Credits ‘Married… With Children’s Ed O’Neill For ‘Raising Her’

Ed O’Neill joined Christina Applegate on Tuesday’s episode of her MeSsy podcast with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and they discussed their father-daughter relationship beyond the set of Married…With Children. Applegate joked that Ed was at fault if people had things they disliked about her because he was basically her dad.

On the positive, Ed can also be credited for her admirable qualities such as her kind-hearted nature. Applegate played Kelly, daughter to Ed’s Al on the 11-season show, which also featured Katey Sagal and David Faustino to complete their TV family of four.

Christina Applegate on starring in ‘Married… with Children’

At first, Applegate considered the script for Married…With Children gross because it had some toilet humor, but she had a change of mind after seeing the initial pilot episode. As a 15-year-old actress, Applegate found a father in Ed, who saw her through some tough times in life such as her mother’s battle with cancer.

Till now, Ed and Applegate still communicate regularly over the phone, even though the latter prefers to text in general. The mother of one noted that she hardly has such long, hilarious conversations with anyone as much as Ed, who is 26 years older.

Ed praises Applegate’s talent and strength

Ed also had wonderful things to say about Applegate, who he called a pro and a fun co-star to work with. He noted that she shares a kindness in common with his TV daughter from Modern Family, Julie Bowen, even if they are completely different people.

Clearly, Ed has been supportive of Applegate amid her struggles with multiple sclerosis, which is reportedly getting worse in recent times. The actress admitted to feeling insecure about her body as she gains weight while her legs grow thinner due to muscle atrophy. She also mentioned in a previous episode that her social life has been in shambles because she has hardly been able to get out of bed lately due to her MS.