Fiona Phillips has revealed she was left bedbound for three weeks after contracting coronavirus.
The presenter, 59, spoke to Lorraine Kelly in her first television interview since recovering from COVID-19, admitting she first began to notice the illness when she suffered ‘really bad gut pains.’
Fiona was one of the first celebrities to reveal she was suffering coronavirus back in March, describing it at the time as an ‘unwelcome bed partner.’
On the mend: Fiona Phillips, 59 has revealed she was left bedbound for three weeks after contracting coronavirus in her first TV interview since recovering from COVID-19
Asked how she’s doing several months after contracting the virus, Fiona told Lorraine: ‘Well I was in bed for three weeks, and it all started off with really bad gut pains, I just thought I had something wrong with my alimentary system. So, yes, but I’m OK.’
Fiona added that she was forced to delete all her social media profiles after she began to receive vile messages about her battle with the deadly virus.
The star added: ‘They wasted their time because as soon as they started flooding in, I started switching it off, I’m not a big social media user, it didn’t affect me, I don’t know these people. I feel sorry for them.’
Challenging: The presenter told Lorraine Kelly she first began to notice the illness when she suffered ‘really bad gut pains,’ which developed into the more well-known symptoms
Fiona was a guest on Lorraine’s show to launch an urgent appeal by the Alzheimer’s Society, as they are one of many charities hit by the coronavirus.
The former GMTV veteran admitted it’s a cause close to her heart, as both her mum Amy and Dad Phillip died from Alzheimer’s and dementia.
She explained: ‘Most people in care homes have been hit really really hard. It’s really tragic. They desperately need more funds in the wake of this pandemic, if you think about it in care homes the deaths were horrific because there was no PPE, the staff in there have no protection.
On the mend: She said: ‘Well I was in bed for three weeks, and it all started off with really bad gut pains, I just thought I had something wrong with my alimentary system. So, yes, but I’m OK’
‘Dementia is a terrible terrible illness and both of my parents had it very early on in their lives and it devastated my whole family, and I still don’t think I’ve got over it.
‘I’ve never really had much contact with the police, apart from when I was shoplifting when I was 11.’
The star added that due to concerns about leaving her parents when they were ill she developed agoraphobia, adding at one point she even received a call from the fire service informing her that her parents had accidentally set the house on fire.
She candidly said: ‘When I was coping with it all and doing breakfast TV I literally had agoraphobia, I went into a panic and thought how do I say no? I don’t want to make things up and I can’t go out.’
Fiona has been holed up in lockdown with her husband Martin Frizell and their
One of them is huge, one of them is about to go into the army Lorraine, but he’s got a sense of duty about him, but this coronavirus has postponed that, his basic training keeps getting put back. It’s time he went Lorraine!
Especially when I open a fridge after a big shop and there’s nothing left in there.
In March, Fiona became one of the first media personalities to reveal she was suffering from coronavirus.
She wrote in a column for The Mirror that the ‘unwelcome bed partner’ has brought with it ‘a whole-body-sized cloak of sweat’ and ‘scratchy gut pain’.
The star revealed: ‘Having come bearing gifts such as a fiery sore throat, high temperature/fever, shortness of breath, annoying dry cough, aches, pains, lethargy and a whole-body-sized cloak of sweat – nice – I’ll be doing my best to make sure [COVID-19] doesn’t stay too long either.’
She recounted: ‘The first sign of the nasty bug’s generosity was about a week ago, in the form of a horrible, sort of scratchy gut pain that made me feel full, from my throat, right down through my whole digestive system.
‘It kept me awake all night – it was as if a witch had shoved her twiggy broom up into my alimentary canal and on into my throat, left it there and had then intermittently twisted it.’
Fiona also used the opportunity to take a swipe at ‘those selfish, greedy, ”I’m alright Jack”, toilet roll snatchers’ – as the outbreak has seen panic-buying sweep the nation – and the world.
She first revealed she had coronavirus on March 20 after suffering a ‘sore throat, dry cough and headache’.
The former GMTV host took to Twitter to share the news as she described the illness as ‘not very pleasant’.
Sharing the news on Twitter in March, Fiona wrote: ‘I am in bed with #coronvirusuk It’s not a very pleasant bedfellow, but nothing more than sore throat, dry cough, headache & tiredness. As long as it stays that way….DON’T panic!’
Fiona, who is married to This Morning editor Martin, was quick to reassure fans that she wasn’t in too much distress despite her diagnosis – something that clearly changed as the weekend went on.