christina applegateChristina Applegate has revealed she avoided hugging people when she first found out she had breast cancer because she felt too tender.

Speaking on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, she explained she kept the diagnosis a secret at first but: “I told my make-up and hair people and people that are really close to me just so I had a protection wall so that no one was pushing me.”

After her double masectomy in August, she continued to shy away from people on the set of her show Samantha Who? but added: “But now I’m good.”

Ellen responded, saying she was going to make up for lost hugging time: “I’m going to hug you a bunch during this commercial break.”

The radical operation left Christina is cancer-free and she is undergoing breast reconstruction procedures.