Frankie Muniz reveals on 'Dancing with the Stars' he suffers from severe memory loss
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Former child star Frankie Muniz shocked "Dancing with the Stars" viewers on Monday night's show by revealing for the first time he has suffered severe memory loss.
The 31-year-old actor confided on camera that he’s suffered nine concussions and several "mini-strokes" and the effects have been so bad that he can't even remember being on his hit sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle."
"It makes me a little sad. Things pop back into my mind I should have remembered," said Muniz, who is also a race car driver and has endured several crashes.
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Muniz's "Malcolm in the Middle" co-star Bryan Cranston told "DWTS" cameras, "I will tell him, 'Remember this? Remember that from 'Malcolm'?"
The sitcom ran from 2000 to 2006 and Muniz elaborated to reporters backstage with dance partner Witney Carson by his side that his memory loss "is long-term."
"It's something I never really talked about…It's just my life but we were talking about 'Malcolm' and how it started and I don't really have memories of being on the show. My memory of being on the show is seeing the episode[s]," he said.
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Muniz said his memory loss is "a weird thing" that has happened "over the last ten years."
"My mom was with me while I was doing 'Malcolm' and stuff, she'll bring up things or trips we went on or big events that you would think I'd remember --and it's a new story to me," he said.
Although racing is a dangerous sport, Muniz said of his memory loss, "I don't know what the cause of it is. It's not something I've looked into. It's just how my brain is, so I thought that was normal. I didn't know I should remember going to the Emmys."
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The former child star reflected, "My whole life from when I was eight until now has been literally non-stop….maybe it's because I had to remember so much, even lines…I didn't really take them in."
Surprisingly, Muniz told Fox News he hasn't consulted any doctors about his memory problem: "I'm not a doctor person. Every time I go to the doctors, they tell me I'm just crazy," he laughed.
But the star's devoted girlfriend, Paige Price, helps Muniz with his memory by keeping a journal of events for him.
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Muniz said, "I get sad of the thought of losing the memory because I know that I do, so she writes literally in detail, she's a writer, a journal so I can look at any day and it does bring me back. She's very supportive."
Meanwhile, dance partner Carson is happy that Muniz's short-term memory is fine, so he can remember the steps.
So far, he's excelling on "DWTS" and delivered a smooth quickstep to the Coldplay song, "Adventure of a Lifetime" on Monday night, earning 24 out of 30 possible points.