Selma Blair explains why Christina Applegate was so crucial in her fight against MS

Editor's note: This article was originally published on November 24, 2022. It has since been updated.

Selma Blair and Christina Applegate have been supporting one another since Blair was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018 and Applegate in 2021. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Blair, 50, recalls telling Applegate that she is available, “‘If you need help with canes and that stuff,’ because I’m really into all of that, all the things that help me get around. She’s getting it locked down,” Blair said, describing the new way Applegate is learning to walk. “She has a lot on her plate. It’s a lot, but she’s as brilliant and beautiful as ever.”

Due to her chronic condition, Blair departed "Dancing with the Stars" on ABC. “I’ve been monitored and in touch with my doctor... I had MRIs and the results came back and it all adds up to, I can’t go on with the competition,” she told her partner, Sasha Farber, during the fifth episode. “I’ve pushed as far as I could. With a chronic illness, you do have special considerations and my body has taken a hit. It’s way too much for the safety of my bones. There is just intense bone trauma and inflammation.”

"It was a beautiful thing to join, and I loved it so much, and I was crushed to leave, but it was important to take care of myself," Blair said of her mid-season exit. "I have more going on, you know, I'm not a professional dancer, my career doesn't hinge on that. I had to take care of my bones and I have Arthur, but you know, it was so beautiful to be applauded and still say, 'It's okay to bow out.'"

Blair added that she's grateful to Applegate, someone who is always there for her, adding that Applegate is a "strong one." “Christina still supports me," she said. "She’s just a strong one. She really is. She’s such a nurturer. If you need something she’s at your house. There have been things that I had been unglued, and she’s like, ‘I’m outside. Answer the door.’ She’s just amazing and strong and fun.”

Applegate was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Blair noted that "she was funny and... her performance was amazing." Blair expressed her pride in supporting Applegate by being present at the ceremony. "I just want to witness the greats in my friends’ lives just quietly back there, and to know that I was there for something that we dream about when we’re little,” she explained.

The two became friends after appearing together in the 2002 movie "The Sweetest Thing." “Oh, I’ve known Christina for so many years. We’re really close, and I’m just a fan of hers,” Blair said, adding, “She is an iconic California girl actress of my generation, and she is it. There has not been one thing that she’s done that I haven’t been like, ‘Nailed it,’ and she’s nailing just being who she is with this MS."