Richard Madeley was struck down by a month-long "superbug" in December.
Richard Madeley struck down by month-long 'superbug'
The 66-year-old TV presenter has never felt like he did over Christmas, and believes there could be a new strain of coronavirus around.
Speaking on 'Good Morning Britain' – while guest hosting the ITV show alongside Susanna Reid - he said: "I had that [superbug] all Christmas for a month, never had anything like it before. In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if there’s a new strain of COVID going around.
"I took a test every week, it was always negative, but I can’t help thinking that’s what I had."
Last month, Richard suffered a nasty fall after tripping in icy conditions, as he headed to Whiston Hospital in Prescot, Merseyside, to film a special 'Good Morning Britain' episode about the struggling NHS.
But fortunately, Richard recovered in time to co-host 'GMB' from the hospital alongside Kate Garraway.
He told viewers at the time: "I fell over this morning getting out of the car, a full-on fall!"
Kate then said: "Richard nearly didn't make it on air. It was very tense."
Richard added: "A lot of people walking into hospitals all over the country where it's freezing cold with fall accidents.
"That is really pushing the pressure up."
Richard took part in 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!' in 2021, but he was forced to leave the show early after he left the COVID-19 secure bubble of Gwrych Castle in Wales - where the show took place when Australia was out of bounds due to coronavirus travel restrictions - to go to hospital for medical attention.
The star later insisted he was as "fit as a fiddle".
Just days afterwards, he told co-hosts Ant and Dec: "I feel as fit as a fiddle and I am fit as a fiddle. And you know if it wasn't for COVID I'd be back there sort of eating rice and beans.
"I had to leave… it's a COVID situation. It's still biting our bums isn't it? What happened was, I had just a funny little turn quite sort of late in the morning.
"ITV are so good with duty of care. They were adamant. They said 'No, we have to make sure that you're OK.' I said, 'But I am OK.' They said, 'We have to make sure.' So I went to the local hospital - I was only in there for about an hour and a half – I was given really thorough checks and I was given a completely clean bill of health, I'm absolutely fine. No matter what you might have read, I'm absolutely fine.
"But I did hang on after I was discharged for about 20 minutes because I went to the canteen, seriously, and had a bacon butty. That was my first port of call for a bacon butty. And a huge cup of tea, it was amazing.
"I ate hospital food, exactly. I'm absolutely fine. As I say, if it wasn't for Covid, I'd still be in the game. I'm gutted. I'm gutted, I really am."
Tagged in Richard Madeley