Christina Applegate has been bravely outspoken about her battle with breast cancer. But, the Samantha Who? star reveals, she wasn’t always so forthcoming.

“I went back to work for about five weeks right after the second surgery,” Applegate tells Ellen DeGeneres on Friday’s show. She adds, “I didn’t tell anyone [about the diagnosis].”

Actually, she did share the news with a few members of her inner circle.

“I told my make-up and hair people and people that are really close to me …,” she explains. “I had a protection wall [on set], so that no one was pushing me.”

The 36-year-old was diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer earlier this year. She is now cancer free after undergoing a double mastectomy.

She and DeGeneres recently bonded at the Stand Up to Cancer fund-raiser. (The event also featured fellow cancer sufferer Patrick Swayze and megastars like Jennifer Aniston.)

“[I'm feeling] so much better than the last time I saw you,” she tells the talk show host. “I was really … afraid of people hugging me. People are really huggy at those things.”

“I apologize,” DeGeneres says. “I hugged you.”

But these days, Applegate inists, “I’m good. I’ll grab ya.”

DeGeneres responds with a promise: “I’m going to hug you a bunch during this commercial break.”

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