Frankie Muniz Calls Out DWTS For Misrepresenting Health Issues
Frankie Muniz shot to fame in 2000, when he portrayed the title character in the Fox sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle." But, unlike those who regularly indulge in their favorite episodes, Muniz has zero memory of the time he spent on set. Well, at least that's what fans of "Dancing with the Stars" might believe, anyway.
When Muniz took part in the competition in 2017, Muniz addressed how health issues had impacted his memory in a pre-recorded clip shown during an October episode, Entertainment Tonight reported. "I'm not actually sure how my memory loss started," Muniz shared in the video. "I have had nine concussions and I've had a fair amount of mini-strokes." His former on-screen dad, Bryan Cranston, also chimed in to reveal he's there to help remind Muniz of those special experiences.
That wasn't the only time the actor-turned-racer discussed his health. In 2019, he told People that he generally copes well with his memory loss, considering he has lived with the issue for most of his life. "I'm only reminded of how bad my memory is when people I see, they come to me and go, 'Oh, you remember when we did this? ... And I have no recollection of it." However, Muniz has since expressed that the extent of his memory problems have been far exaggerated by the media — and is claiming "DWTS" used his words out of context.
Frankie Muniz's memory struggles aren't so dire
In a segment shown on the "Dancing with the Stars" Most Memorable Year episode, Frankie Muniz said the year he landed "Malcolm in the Middle" doesn't rank high among the highlights of his life because he could barely remember it, Time reported. However, Muniz believes his interview was edited to make it more dramatic. "The way it got cut together and the way they put it was that I have zero memory of anything," he said on the "Pardon My Take" podcast on July 18. What Muniz meant was the great amount of episodes blurred together into one long, distant experience. "I don't remember everything," he explained.
Muniz also explained he hasn't actually suffered any mini-strokes, or Transient Ischemic Attack, like he previously described. "I was — and this was only recently figured out — wrongfully diagnosed with TIAs," he said. "I was having these episodes where, like, I'd lose my vision, I couldn't recognize faces, couldn't talk, all this kind of stuff." He was actually suffering from aura migraines, or severe headaches accompanied by "sensory disturbances," according to Mayo Clinic.
Muniz has indeed suffered nine concussions since childhood, though he doesn't believe they are fully responsible for his memory troubles, as he opened up on "Steve-O's Wild Ride!" podcast in December. "I don't want to blame the concussions or blame anything else. I just think it's the fact that I did so [expletive] much in that timeframe," he said.