Christina Applegate Reveals Moment She Knew Her Marriage to Johnathon Schaech Wouldn't Last as She Was Walking Down the Aisle
Christina Applegate Reveals Moment She Knew Her Marriage to Johnathon Schaech Wouldn't Last as She Was Walking Down the Aisle
Erin ClackTue, March 3, 2026 at 6:23 PM UTC
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Christina Applegate and Johnathon Schaech in 2003Credit: KMazur/WireImage/Getty -
Christina Applegate reflects on some of her past relationships in her new memoir, You with the Sad Eyes, including her first marriage to actor Johnathon Schaech
She wrote that she knew their marriage was doomed even as she was walking down the aisle on their wedding day
The pair married in 2001, and Schaech filed for divorce in 2005, citing irreconcilable differences
Christina Applegate says she knew that her marriage to Johnathon Schaech wouldn't last — even as she was walking down the aisle on their wedding day.
The Dead to Me actress, 54, reflects on some of her past relationships in her candid new memoir, You with the Sad Eyes, including her first marriage to Schaech, 56. The pair began dating in 1999 and tied the knot in October 2001. Four years later, the That Thing You Do! actor filed for divorce from Applegate in December 2005, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalized in 2007.
In her memoir, released on Tuesday, March 3, Applegate describes her and Schaech's wedding as "a master class in anal perfectionism," with a ceremony “choreographed within an inch of its life.”
Recalling the moment she realized that their marriage was doomed, she continued, "But that wasn't the worst thing. The worst thing was the moment I walked around the corner and into the ceremony. One of my favorite songs was playing, and when I looked hard at the face of my husband-to-be, I thought, 'Oh f---. F---, oh f---.' "
Christina Applegate and Johnathon Schaech at their wedding in October 2001Credit: Joe Buissink/WireImage/Getty
She said she "never considered stopping the wedding," explaining, "For a start, I was halfway down the aisle."
"I kept thinking, ‘Don’t be that guy. Don’t be that guy. Don’t be that guy. You’re sabotaging. You’re sabotaging. You’re sabotaging,’ ” Applegate continued. “Because there I was in my custom gown, the center of this beautiful f---ing wedding filled with all the perfect that you could possibly imagine."
"And I knew right then that this was not the man for me," she added of Schaech.
The Married with Children alum shared some advice for other women as she recounted her first impressions of Schaech on their first date.
"I have advice for women. If you go on a first date with a guy and you don't like his shoes, run — shoes are a telltale sign of whether or not a relationship will last," she wrote. "For our first date, he had shown up in boots, but not even cowboy boots. I think they were supposed to look like a cowboy boot, but they missed the mark by a wide margin. No one should wear such things, but especially not if you live in Los Angeles."
Johnathon Schaech and Christina Applegate at their wedding in October 2001Credit: Joe Buissink/WireImage/Getty
She remembered spending the entire date fixated on his shoes and thinking to herself, "Those shoes are so bad. Bad shoes, bad shoes, bad shoes, bad shoes." She said she had to talk herself out of bailing on the spot.
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"Another voice said, 'You're doing it again. This is the right person for you. He's got his s--- together. He's attractive. He has a career,' " the actress recalled, noting that, ultimately, she and Schaech "were just very different."
"I'm scrappy. I tell f---ed-up jokes. I can be offensive and rough around the edges. He was none of those things," she wrote in the memoir.
Johnathon Schaech and Christina Applegate in 2005Credit: Michael Loccisano/FilmMagic/Getty
Back in 2020, Schaech — who has been married to podcaster and third wife Julie Solomon since 2013 — opened up about his failed marriages in a Reddit AMA. His second marriage to Jana Kramer ended just weeks after the pair tied the knot in 2010.
After claiming that Kramer, 42, "wasn't ready to be married," Schaech said he was “a little bit country with Jana and a little bit rock and roll with Christina. And that it all worked out for the best.”
'You with the Sad Eyes' by Christina ApplegateCredit: Little, Brown and Company
He added of Applegate — who is now married to musician Martyn LeNoble, with whom she shares daughter Sadie, 15 — “[They] have a wonderful family.”
"All the Christina Applegate and Jana Kramer fans should know — I’m rooting for them too," Schaech said during the Reddit AMA.
The Blue Ridge actor has also shared his support for Applegate amid her journey with multiple sclerosis (MS). After she attended the 2023 Emmy Awards, he wrote on X, "She danced opening night on Broadway on a broken foot! Beat cancer! She's the toughest human being I've ever met! F--- MS! So proud of her! Go, Christina!"
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You with the Sad Eyes is available now wherever books are sold.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
