Katey Sagal Tells Christina Applegate 'Life-Threatening Illness' of Alcoholism 'Burned Down' Her Music Career

Mar. 15, 2025

Christina Applegate and Katey Sagal in 2022.Photo:Stewart Cook/Shutterstock

Stewart Cook/Shutterstock

Katey Sagal opened up to Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler about her “life-threatening illness,” alcoholismSagal appeared on the March 11 episode of Applegate and Sigler’s podcast,MesSy, explaining that she started drinking at 15 to self-medicate and to avoid having to “deal with emotion"The actress, 71, shared how her addiction impacted her early music career, saying she “pretty much burned it down"Katey Sagalsaid she began drinking and using drugs as a teenager — and shared that “I medicated myself” with the substances to not “deal with emotion.”The actress, 71, opened up toChristina ApplegateandJamie-Lynn Sigleron the March 11 episode of their podcast,MeSsy, saying she “started usingdrugs and alcoholwhen I was really young, when I was 15.”“I’m a person that for probably the first 30 years of my life, didn’t deal [with] s—t,” Sagal told Sigler and Applegate, who played her onscreen daughter onMarried…with Childrenfor 11 seasons. “I medicated myself to where I didn’t really deal with my emotion. My parents died, I had cancer in my 20s, I mean, a bunch of s—t happened, and I didn’t really deal with it. And then, you know, I stopped medicating myself, and now I have no choice but to deal with it.”Christina Applefate and Katey Sagal as Kelly and Peg Bundy on “Married…with Children”.FoxSagal referenced Applegate and Sigler’s struggles with the chronic immune disordermultiple sclerosis, saying, “I’m sure as you deal with a life-threatening illness — which as an alcoholic, I deal with a life-threatening illness — it brings into the forefront of your brain your own mortality,” Sagal said. “So there’s a certain maturity that I’m sure having the illness that you girls both do that has forced you in probably some really great ways to, you know, like, ‘This is it, man. This is the moment, you know?’ ”As theSons of Anarchyalum said, “It’s the way I choose to live my life, but in order to stay unafraid, to walk in faith, to be a person that can look at the dark sides and really process them, I’ve learned this way that I live my life, which I think that’s been the biggest inspiration. Because, you know, the brave part of living a sober life is that, you know, life’s f—king terrifying. And you got to look at it. And what I have found around community around all that is I know lots of people that have walked through everything I’ve walked through. So, you know, the opposite of addiction is community.”Katey Sagal in Beverly Hills in 2025.Monica Schipper/GettyIt wasn’t always that way, Sagal said, explaining that her addictions torched her music career. “Through my own self -sabotage, [I] pretty much burned it down, burned it down pretty much,” said Sagal, who has since releasedtwo albumsand recorded a song for theSons of Anarchysoundtrack. “I know this in hindsight, but you know, you can’t show up loaded on the gig. And sometimes I would.”Looking forward, she shares that she’s maintained an “open dialogue” with the youngest of herthree children,daughter, Esme, 18, about alcohol — especially now that she’s going to college. “We talk a lot about, you know, do not do drugs, period. She’s grown up in a household of no alcohol. So, you know, we’re gonna let her try some alcohol before she goes to college. Only because I don’t think the first experience should be at a frat party with a keg or whatever.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Katey Sagalsaid she began drinking and using drugs as a teenager — and shared that “I medicated myself” with the substances to not “deal with emotion.”

The actress, 71, opened up toChristina ApplegateandJamie-Lynn Sigleron the March 11 episode of their podcast,MeSsy, saying she “started usingdrugs and alcoholwhen I was really young, when I was 15.”

“I’m a person that for probably the first 30 years of my life, didn’t deal [with] s—t,” Sagal told Sigler and Applegate, who played her onscreen daughter onMarried…with Childrenfor 11 seasons. “I medicated myself to where I didn’t really deal with my emotion. My parents died, I had cancer in my 20s, I mean, a bunch of s—t happened, and I didn’t really deal with it. And then, you know, I stopped medicating myself, and now I have no choice but to deal with it.”

Christina Applefate and Katey Sagal as Kelly and Peg Bundy on “Married…with Children”.Fox

Fox

Sagal referenced Applegate and Sigler’s struggles with the chronic immune disordermultiple sclerosis, saying, “I’m sure as you deal with a life-threatening illness — which as an alcoholic, I deal with a life-threatening illness — it brings into the forefront of your brain your own mortality,” Sagal said. “So there’s a certain maturity that I’m sure having the illness that you girls both do that has forced you in probably some really great ways to, you know, like, ‘This is it, man. This is the moment, you know?’ ”

As theSons of Anarchyalum said, “It’s the way I choose to live my life, but in order to stay unafraid, to walk in faith, to be a person that can look at the dark sides and really process them, I’ve learned this way that I live my life, which I think that’s been the biggest inspiration. Because, you know, the brave part of living a sober life is that, you know, life’s f—king terrifying. And you got to look at it. And what I have found around community around all that is I know lots of people that have walked through everything I’ve walked through. So, you know, the opposite of addiction is community.”

Katey Sagal in Beverly Hills in 2025.Monica Schipper/Getty

Monica Schipper/Getty

It wasn’t always that way, Sagal said, explaining that her addictions torched her music career. “Through my own self -sabotage, [I] pretty much burned it down, burned it down pretty much,” said Sagal, who has since releasedtwo albumsand recorded a song for theSons of Anarchysoundtrack. “I know this in hindsight, but you know, you can’t show up loaded on the gig. And sometimes I would.”

Looking forward, she shares that she’s maintained an “open dialogue” with the youngest of herthree children,daughter, Esme, 18, about alcohol — especially now that she’s going to college. “We talk a lot about, you know, do not do drugs, period. She’s grown up in a household of no alcohol. So, you know, we’re gonna let her try some alcohol before she goes to college. Only because I don’t think the first experience should be at a frat party with a keg or whatever.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

source: people.com