Jonathan Tapper from Gogglebox has described his horrific battle with coronavirus and how it left him ‘unable to move’.
The Tapper family appeared via video link on today’s (Friday, April 23) episode of Good Morning Britain.
Chatting with host Lorraine Kelly, dad Jonathan, 52, said of his COVID-19 battle: “It wasn’t too great, with the symptoms of high fever and feeling very weak, mainly, and coughing.
Read more: Gogglebox star Amy Tapper shows off incredible transformation after dropping three stone
“I literally couldn’t move at one point. [I] couldn’t walk up the stairs, and if I did manage to get halfway up I was really struggling for breath.”
Confined to his room
The family explained that Jonathan confined himself in his room to keep himself away from the rest of them.
And daughter Amy was terrified she would find him not breathing, in what turned into a life-and-death struggle.
She told Lorraine: “There was one night and I just kept coming back every hour to check up on him. I was just so worried. [Brother] Josh went, ‘What are you doing?’ and I said, ‘Dad’s still breathing, it’s okay!'”
I literally couldn’t move.
The whole family ended up having the deadly flu-like bug. Josh and mum Nikki came down with the virus after Jonathan and Amy got it last.
Earlier this week, Amy credited her dad’s amazing weight loss with helping him beat coronavirus.
Incredible weight loss
Amy admitted the family might not have been celebrating his recovery if he hadn’t shed three stone following his devastating diabetes diagnosis.
Read more: Gogglebox’s Amy Tapper undergoes makeover for Celebs Go Dating
Speaking to The Sun, she said: “If we hadn’t lost the six stone last year when we did, could this have been a different outcome for us? I just don’t know.
“It’s public knowledge that in most cases, the healthier you are when you contract coronavirus, the more likely you are to survive. I can’t even begin to think about what might have happened to dad – and to me – if we hadn’t changed our lives last year.
“Dad is now taking it easier but the rest of us are fully well now.”
Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think of this story.