Joe Swash has made a bombshell confession after admitting he may have been suffering from coronavirus symptoms during the Dancing on Ice final. The former soap star, who won the skating competition in March, revealed that he experienced a fever and sickness, which was so bad, that following the show he was bed-ridden for a week. "In the final week of the competition I was really ill, I had a bad ear, I was being sick quite a lot, I had a fever," he told Mirror Online. "I think I may have had corona in the last week of Dancing On Ice."
WATCH: THe effects coronavirus has on your body
MORE: Alesha Dixon forced to be tested for coronavirus – details
Once the 38-year-old was crowned the winner alongside his skating partner Alex Murphy – who has not complained of coronavirus symptoms, Joe's girlfriend Stacey Solomon revealed that he had been confined to bed. Addressing his absence on her Instagram Stories in March, Stacey said: "Loads of you asking where Joe is today... his ear is really playing him up so he's in bed resting."
At the time of his illness, Joe was recovering from emergency surgery on his ear following a nasty accident on the ice – but now it appears he thinks it was actually severe symptoms of COVID-19. The former EastEnders actor had to undergo an operation after his skating partner Alex accidentally sliced his ear with her skate. The pair were practising a risky move on the ice during rehearsals for their final DOI performance. Explaining how the incident gave him "cauliflower ear", which then became infected, Joe was forced to wear a huge bandage on his head until the show's final.
MORE: Emotional Piers Morgan sends moving message to Kate Garraway’s husband as he fights coronavirus
Joe Swash had emergency surgery on his ear during Dancing on Ice
"I've knocked the ear and it's like a cauliflower ear, it just got swollen and they had to drain it and cut it a little bit," Joe explained on Instagram at the time. "But the bad thing is I've got to keep (the bandage) on until Sunday. I'm going to have to take it off for the show, but I've got to keep it on all week. I did say to them, 'Is it not a little bit overkill?' And they were like, 'No, it's the only way we can bandage an ear.'"
Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.