Celebrities Open Up About Their Coronavirus Symptoms

Kaitlyn Bristowe & Jason Tartick

The former Bachelorette revealed on Dec. 24 that she and her boyfriend have tested positive for COVID-19 after seeing one friend during their quarantine, which they had self-imposed in hopes of spending the holidays with Tartick’s family.

“We thought we were making a responsible decision to have ONE person over, who had been tested daily for work. Negative tests 4 days in a row,” she shared on Instagram. “The day we saw her, she became positive which we all found out the next day. Now, like many, we will spend Christmas by ourselves.”

Tartick shared a video on his Instagram explaining the situation as well, noting that he began experiencing symptoms on Dec. 23. 

“A fever, achey, like a pool of sweat when you’re sleeping,” he said, before sharing that his temperature has reached up to 103.1 degrees.

“Lesson learned and we’re going to war here,” Tartick concluded.

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Shemar Moore

The former Criminal Minds star revealed his positive diagnosis on Christmas Eve, reassuring fans, “I feel fine now… but I have to be responsible!!!!” 

Moore said he initially thought he had food poisoning after experiencing “chills and aches all day.” He noted that he still has his sense of smell and taste — the loss of which is a common symptom of the coronavirus — and that he has “no cough, no runny nose.”

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Jeremih

The “Birthday Sex” singer spoke about his COVID-19 diagnosis, hospitalization and his subsequent monthlong recovery during an appearance on Sway In The Morning on Dec. 15.

“What I can say is: man, it definitely is real,” he said of the respiratory virus. “I didn’t take it for granted.”

“And truth be told … I’m a living, walking testimony,” he continued, before speaking about his hospitalization. “I had the tube down my throat for about a week and a half,” he said. “I was really, like, in a dream. And I ain’t gonna lie, I woke up about two times and all I remember is just seeing a white light.”

The 33-year-old artist revealed that he was also diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a condition he said was “a rare case of cause and effect of COVID.”

“All my organs became inflamed,” Jeremih recalled. “My heart went out, stopped beating and started beating irregularly. My kidneys went out. My liver started … to go bad.”

He explained that since his condition has stabilized, he “had to learn how to walk again, eat, all that stuff,” he said.

“I look at it as kind of somewhat of a blessing now, as crazy as it might sound,” Jeremih said. “I needed to sit down.”

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Ellen DeGeneres

The talk show host, who revealed her positive COVID-19 diagnosis on Dec. 10, was initially asymptomatic, telling fans at the time of her announcement, “I’m feeling fine right now.” 

Nearly a week later, DeGeneres, 62, gave fans an update on her condition, sharing in a video that she’s back to feeling “100 percent” despite learning that “excruciating back pain” is a symptom of the virus. 

“Hi everybody, just saying thank you to all the well wishes out there. I appreciate it very much,” DeGeneres began. “I am feeling 100 percent. I feel really good.”

“One thing they don’t tell you is you get, somehow, excruciating back pain,” she continued, adding that she “didn’t know that was a symptom.”

“Who knew? How come?” DeGeneres mused. “Back pain. Bad.”

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Carrie Ann Inaba

On Dec. 10, the Dancing with the Stars judge shared the news on Instagram that she had tested positive. “I just wanted to come and let you know that I just tested positive for COVID-19,” she wrote. “I’m home, I’m following the guidelines. … I have a fever, bad cough and lots of aches and pains and I just wanted to remind you all to stay vigilant because I am following all the protocols and have so many strict protocols in place and even then I caught it.”

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Richard Schiff & Sheila Kelley

“It’s scarier than you’ve read and scarier than you’ve heard,” the West Wing alum told MSNBC after recovering from the respiratory illness. “You don’t want this.”

The 65-year-old actor and his actress wife, Sheila Kelley, both tested positive on Nov. 3, and after 13 days of trying to fight the virus on his own, Schiff entered the hospital for treatment. 

“I can’t stress enough,” the Emmy Award-winning actor said. “This thing will debilitate you.” He was given supplemental oxygen while hospitalized and now “all of my energy is gone,” he said, adding that his strength and muscle atrophy were “coming back, ever so slowly.”

“It gets into your system and it feels like wherever you think you can get a breath in, it’s going to go there and that’s where the cough is going to go,” he said. “It wants to stop you from breathing.”

Kelly, 59, initially explained her symptoms on Instagram, writing, “One minute you feel almost fine and the next you can’t catch your breath.” She continued, “Symptoms change radically daily even hourly.”

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Hugh Grant

The Undoing star believes he and wife Anna Eberstein contracted the coronavirus back in February, he said during a virtual appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in November. 

“It started as just a very strange syndrome where I kept breaking into a terrible sweat. It was like a poncho of sweat, embarrassing really,” recalled Grant. “Then my eyeballs felt about three sizes too big and this feeling as though some enormous man was sitting on my chest, sort of Harvey Weinstein or someone.”

“I thought, ‘I don’t know what this is,’ and then I was walking down the street one day and I thought, ‘I can’t smell a damn thing,’ and you start to panic,” he added.

Grant said he began “sniffing flowers” to be certain he had the telltale symptom, and still couldn’t pick up a scent. “And you get more and more desperate — I started sniffing in garbage cans. You know, you want to sniff strangers’ armpits because you just can’t smell anything.”

“I eventually went home and sprayed my wife’s Chanel No. 5 directly into my face. Couldn’t smell a thing, but I did go blind!” he joked.

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Christopher Cross

The 69-year-old singer, best known for his ’80s songs “Sailing” and “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do),” shared his experience with COVID-19 in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning

“There was some come-to-Jesus moments or whatever where I was looking for any help I could get to, you know, through this, to get out of this thing,” he told CBS News’ Serena Altschul. “Because I wasn’t sure.”

The Grammy winner, announced in April he had tested positive for COVID-19, and revealed during the interview that he contracted the virus while he and his girlfriend were on a trip to Mexico City. Cross was also  diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which caused his body to attack his nerves, a diagnosis that doctors believe was caused by COVID-19. 

“It was the worst 10 days of my life,” Cross recalled. “And I couldn’t walk, could barely move. And so, it was certainly the darkest of times for me. It really was touch and go, and tough.”

 The ordeal left Cross temporarily paralyzed. Now, he is able to get around with the help of a cane, but is still feeling the effects of the virus. 

“My walking is affected,” he said. “My speech at times can be affected. Memory is a big deal, too. Just neurologically, I’m kind of a little foggy. Now I’m on medication … a nerve pain medication, which also can cause some fogginess.”

“But until I can get off it at some point, I won’t know how clear I would be,” he added. “But most people with Guillain-Barre heal about 90% to 100% over about a year. That’s what my prognosis is.”

The musician said he wanted to share his own story to educate others on the deadly virus, which has killed over 1 million people worldwide.

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Alyssa Milano

The actress got candid about her lingering symptoms by sharing a video to Instagram to show the hair loss she’s experienced as a “long hauler,” a term medical professionals use to refer to someone who suffers from long-lasting COVID-19 symptoms.

“Thought I’d show you what #Covid19 does to your hair,” Milano captioned the clip on August 9, 2020. “Please take this seriously. #WearADamnMask #LongHauler.”

In the footage, Milano combs through her hair with a detangler brush to reveal clumps of hair that fall out with every stroke. “One brushing, this is my hair loss from COVID-19,” she says as she holds up a small pile of hair.

Hair loss is one of the symptoms reported by former coronavirus patients in a survey conducted by Dr. Natalie Lambert from Indiana University School of Medicine with Survivor Corps, a grassroots movement that helps to educate COVID-19 survivors and connect them with resources. In the survey of more than 1,500 people, over 400 participants said they experienced hair loss as a part of their recovery.

Almost a month later, on Sept. 2, 2020, the star gave fans an update on her health, saying she was “starting to physically feel better” but she still has “occasional heart palpitations.”

“I still forget my words (absolute worst part),” she added.

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Pink 

The singer opened up about her health on Instagram Live with her friend and author Jen Pastiloff on April 4, after revealing her postive diagnosis. 

During the chat, she explained that she and her son “have been really, really sick,” adding that Jameson “has had the worst of it.”

“There were many nights when I’ve cried and I’ve never prayed more in my life,” the mom of two shared. “It’s funny, but at one point, I thought they promised us our kids would be okay. It’s not guaranteed. There is no one that is safe from this.”

Pink said that while she and Jameson both got sick, her husband Carey Hart and their 8-year-old daughter Willow have been healthy.

“Jameson has been really, really sick,” she said. “I’ve kept a journal of his symptoms for the past three weeks and mine as well. He still, three weeks later, has a 100 temperature. It’s been a rollercoaster for both of us, but Carey and Willow have been perfectly fine.”

Pink said that while her and Jameson’s conditions have since improved, they have not fully recovered yet.

“We’re better than we were,” she said. “Last week I was on Nebulizers. I’ve had asthma really bad, had it for my whole life. It got really, really scary, I’m not gonna lie. In the beginning, all we were hearing was ‘If you’re young, this is 65 and older, all of the kids are fine.’ ”

“Yes I have asthma, but Jameson, he’s three, he’s perfectly fine,” Pink continued. “We live in the country, right. The worst thing that attacks us here is pollen or mountain lion. But he’s been really, really sick and it’s scary. He’s been up and down and I’ve been on nebulizers for the first time in 30 years and that’s been really scary for me.”

The star added, “I’m hoping we are out of the woods but this thing is a rollercoaster. Just when you think you are better, something else happens.”

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Ali Wentworth

“I’ve never been sicker,” the actress wrote on Instagram after announcing that she had tested positive.

“High fever. Horrific body aches. Heavy chest,” she said of her symptoms.

Sharing a photo of her lying in bed with her dog, she added, “I’m quarantined from my family. This is pure misery.”

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Chris Cuomo

During his April 1 broadcast of his primetime show, the CNN anchor went into graphic detail about his symptoms as he continues to battle the novel coronavirus.

Cuomo, once again broadcasting live from his basement where he’s been quarantined away from his family since testing positive for COVID-19 in late March, recounted his recent sleepless, feverish night.

“This virus came at me — I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “Anybody who has ever seen me spar will tell you my first round is never my best, and this has proven no different with coronavirus. Now I know what I’m up against.”

“I’ve never had anything like it,” he continued. “I’ve never experienced any kind of fever like what I have going on all the time and the body aches and the tremor and the concern about not being able to do anything about it.”

Gesturing emphatically, Cuomo told viewers he was racked with a fever of up to 103 degrees that “wouldn’t quit.”

“It was like somebody was beating me with a piñata. I was shivering so much that … I chipped my tooth,” he said. “They call them the rigors.”

“So the sun comes up, I’m awake — I was up all night. I’m telling you, I was hallucinating. My dad was talking to me,” he continued, referring to his late father, former New York governor Mario Cuomo, who died in 2015. “I was seeing people from college, people I haven’t seen in forever. It was freaky, what I lived through, and it may happen again tonight.”

“You know, I get it now,” he admitted. “And if you match that with chest constriction and people can’t breathe, I totally get why we’re losing so many people and why our hospitals are so crowded.”

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Andy Cohen 

“You know what, I feel like, by my calculation, I’m in day 6 of this. I’m quarantined in my room and I feel like it’s definitely working its way through my body,” Cohen said during an episode of SiriusXM’s Jeff Lewis Live.

“Yesterday was horrible. I have these moments every day where I’m like, ‘Oh wait, I think I feel totally better’ and then 10 minutes later I’m like, ‘Ohh…’ I don’t have any sense of smell, I don’t really have an appetite. I have been forcing myself to eat soup. Last night I had a bowl of soup for dinner, that was all I ate yesterday, I just did not have any appetite.”

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Greg Rikaart

The Young and the Restless star revealed on Instagram that although he “doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink much, eats well and exercises regularly,” nursing the virus has been “the hardest experience of my life.”

He explained that everyone in his family had a bit of a cough but was able to recover, except for him. 

“Everyone recovered, but I deteriorated,” he wrote. “I isolated from my family and have been in solo quarantine since Saturday the 14th [of March].”

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Tom Hanks

Five days after revealing he and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive in Australia, Hanks and Wilson left the hospital to quarantine in a rented home. The actor gave an update on his symptoms on Instagram, explaining that his status had not changed much.

“No fever but the blahs,” he said. “Folding the laundry and doing the dishes leads to a nap on the couch.”

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Arielle Charnas

The fashion influencer and Something Navy designer announced her positive status on Instagram, saying her symptoms ranged from a “very dry throat” to “HORRIBLE body aches.”

She shared her doctors’ recommendations: self-isolate, rest, drink fluids and let people she’s been in contact with recently know, so they can be more diligent about self-quarantining and watching for symptoms. 

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Idris Elba

The day after revealing his positive diagnosis, Elba went live on Twitter to give fans an update. While the actor maintained he doesn’t have any symptoms, he worried having asthma would affect him since the virus targets the lungs.

“I’m very worried about what’s happening in the world, if I’m honest,” he said, adding that he was thankful to have his wife Sabrina Dhowre, who has also tested positive, by his side. 

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Rachel Matthews 

The voice of Frozen 2‘s Honeymaren shared a timeline of her symptoms on Instagram. For the actress, it started with a “sore throat, fatigue and headache” on day one, and ramped up with a “deep, dry cough” and shortness of breath on day three. By day seven, Matthews said she was “feeling more like myself,” despite some remaining symptoms. 

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Colton Underwood

The Bachelor star is still recovering and is “doing okay” but finds it “still hard to breathe.”

“I feel like I only have access to about 20 percent of my lungs,” Underwood told PEOPLE. “My breath is shorter, and I’ve had to train myself to talk differently with my breath. And I have to lie down and rest a lot.”

The former football player is currently in quarantine at the family home of girlfriend Cassie Randolph in Huntington Beach, California.

“I’m taking the home isolation very seriously,” said Underwood. “I’m isolated to a room and Cassie brings me my food with gloves and a mask on.” (He says Randolph and her family have yet to present any symptoms.)

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Charlotte Lawrence

The “Joke’s On You” singer announced on Instagram that she is going to “be completely fine” but “many who get it won’t be if too many people get sick too quickly.”

Lawrence urged her followers to stay inside and think of others because “we have the power to slow this down.”

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Debi Mazar

The Younger Star explained on Instagram that “about a month ago my entire home (husband and two teen daughters) got an odd bug – Low grade fever, headaches, sore throat, body aches, ears ringing and a dry cough. It cleared up quickly. Seasonal I thought? but it felt unusual/different.”

After some time had passed, Mazar woke up one day with a high fever and “super intense body aches.”

“Two weeks later, March 15th, I woke up with all those same symptoms but super intense body aches, and 102.4 fever. I figured maybe I got the flu or..Corona?” she wrote. 

After finding out that she had tested positive, Mazar hopes she’s already “been through the worst” of her illness. “Its very ‘morphy.’ One day I feel crappy and the next I’m normal,“ she said.

“Today my lungs are heavy, but I’m tough. I can breath, and I’m going to heal here, in my own home!” she added, noting that the rest of her family, who have no symptoms, are also under quarantine for 14 days.

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