Frankie Muniz, the actor who spent seven seasons as the title character on "Malcolm in the Middle" before reinventing himself as a professional stock-car racer, told fans Friday that he has hit "rock bottom" after what he called the hardest stretch of his life.

"The last 6 weeks of my life have been a nightmare I'm praying to wake up from," Muniz, 40, wrote in a lengthy social media post first reported by TMZ, adding that "everything felt heavy, unclear, and like it was falling apart at the same time."

"I read that sometimes hitting rock bottom is the thing that wakes you up. In five years I believe I'll look back at this exact low point and feel grateful for it."

Muniz did not spell out every detail behind the post, but he has been navigating two major personal blows in recent months. In July, he and his wife, model and racer Paige Price, announced they were separating and proceeding with a divorce after marrying in 2019 and raising a young son together. Then, on Aug. 16, Muniz's former "Malcolm in the Middle" co-star Hayden Panettiere — who played his character's recurring love interest Jessica on the sitcom and also appeared alongside him in "Racing Stripes" — died at 36, a loss Muniz publicly mourned at the time as a friend with "so many amazing stories and memories."

Despite the grim framing, Muniz's post leaned toward resolve rather than despair. "I've had nowhere to hide," he wrote, according to a report from Just Jared, which independently confirmed the quotes. "I've had time to sit with myself, do real self-reflection, and finally see the areas of my life that need work if I want to become a better version of me." He added that the period was "the part where I start doing the work... the uncomfortable, unglamorous, necessary work," and closed by telling followers in similarly low places, "you're not broken. You're being rebuilt."

The post landed just as another chapter of Muniz's public life was resurfacing: Panettiere's celebration of life is being planned for this weekend in Malibu, with roughly 150 guests expected, according to TMZ, keeping her death fresh for the show's alumni network as Muniz works through his own crisis in parallel.

Muniz has spoken openly before about reinventing himself after child stardom, walking away from a steady acting career in his 20s to pursue IndyCar and later NASCAR Truck Series racing, a path he has described as its own kind of rebuilding. Friday's message reads as an extension of that public instinct to narrate hard chapters rather than hide them.

He gave no timeline for when he might share more, and neither Muniz nor representatives for Price have commented further on the specifics of the split beyond their initial joint statements in July. For now, fans and former castmates have flooded the post with supportive replies, and no further public statement had followed as of Friday evening.