Christina Applegate has broken her silence following reports of a recent hospitalisation, reassuring fans that she is on the mend and determined as ever.

“Thank you for the outpouring of love and well wishes,” the actress wrote on Instagram on Monday. 

“Health issues are a constant for me, but I’m a strong chick and I’m getting stronger and better every day. I’m taking a moment to focus on my health, but I’ll be back with more to say soon enough.”

The post comes after reports began circulating that Applegate had been hospitalised in late March, with outlets reporting that those close to her had been deeply concerned. 

The 54-year-old did not specify the nature of the latest health episode, but her MS diagnosis, which she made public in August 2021, has been an ongoing part of her life in the years since.

Applegate has been notably open about her journey with multiple sclerosis, both through her 2026 memoir You with the Sad Eyes and the podcast she co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who also has MS. 

Her final acting role was in the comedic thriller series Dead to Me, a job she finished while her diagnosis was still new territory. 

Season three was already in production when she found out, and she has spoken candidly about how difficult that period was. 

She used a wheelchair to get to set, was “sleeping all the time,” and had to call the cast and crew to tell them what she was dealing with. 

“I had to call everybody and be like, ‘I have multiple sclerosis guys. Like, what the fuck!'” she told Variety in 2022.

Best known for her long-running role in Married… with Children, which ran on Fox for 11 seasons from 1987 to 1997, Applegate has since retired from acting. 

Her message on Monday was short but carried the same directness that has defined how she has handled her illness throughout, no sugarcoating, and no backing down either.

• Extension preserves combat power, says USAF secretary.
• Arizona Sen Mark Kelly has fought to avert A-10’s retirement.
• USAF warns A-10s strain resources for maintaining newer ones.
  

The US Air Force has extended the service life of its A-10 “Warthog” attack aircraft until 2030, even as the ageing platform remains tied to recent combat operations in the Strait of Hormuz, where one aircraft was lost in disputed circumstances during heightened tensions with Iran.

Air Force Secretary Troy Meink announced the extension, saying it will preserve combat capability while the defence industrial base ramps up production of newer aircraft.

The decision comes against the backdrop of an earlier A-10 loss in the region, which Iranian authorities claimed was a shootdown, while US accounts described it as a crash with the cause still under investigation.

“We will EXTEND the A-10 ‘Warthog’ platform to 2030,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink posted on social media, adding the move “preserves combat power as the Defence Industrial Base works to increase combat aircraft production.”

The development is the latest chapter in a long-running battle over the fate of the plane, which first flew in 1976 and has been on the Pentagon’s chopping block for more than two decades. 

The A-10 has been used in the current conflict with Iran, according to US Central Command. Its powerful nose-mounted guns have been used against Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz, according to reports.

Some in the Air Force have long argued that the Warthog is too old, too slow and too expensive to maintain, and that retiring it would free up money for modernisation priorities like development of hypersonic weapons. 

Critics have warned that cutting the fleet without a suitable replacement would leave ground troops without adequate air support.

But the A-10 has proven almost impossible to kill, in large part because of its political staying power. The largest concentration of the fleet is based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, contributing to the local economy. 

The Air Force ranks among the region’s top employers. Arizona is a battleground state that has become increasingly influential in deciding US presidential races.

In 2021, Arizona Sen Mark Kelly successfully pushed back against a Biden administration proposal to retire dozens of the planes, securing language in defence legislation that blocked any retirements. 

Kelly argued the planes should not be cut without a suitable replacement to carry out the close air support mission.

Air Force officials have also warned that keeping the full fleet strains the supply of mechanics needed to service newer aircraft.

The latest extension suggests those concerns have, for now, again taken a back seat to preserving combat capacity.