‘Sickest I’ve ever been’: Todd Chrisley talks about his coronavirus fight
Reality star Todd Chrisley says he’s “still not clicking on all cylinders” after recently testing positive for the coronavirus.
The real estate guru, best known for his TV show “Chrisley Knows Best,” revealed during a Wednesday episode of his “Chrisley Confessions” podcast that the fast-spreading virus left him hospitalized for several days, Page Six reports.
“I mean, folks, come on. Can we talk about this b---h called corona?” Chrisley began. “I have been battling corona for three weeks. I was in the hospital for four and a half days, fever between 100 to 103, and it has been the sickest that I have ever been in the 52 years that I have been on this earth.”
“Hopefully, I will get better every day,” he continued. “I am probably about 70 to 75 percent of what I normally, but that last 25 percent is kicking my a--.”
As of April 9, the U.S. had over 432,000 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus and nearly 15,000 deaths. Another 24,000 have recovered from the disease, which can cause severe respiratory illness.
Live updates April 9: Biggest spike yet in Mississippi coronavirus cases with over 250
Chrisley opened up about his battle with the virus, saying the experience has been “life-altering” for himself, his wife Julie Chrisley and their family.
“I think that what it has taught me is to look around and see the things that truly, truly matter — and what matters is health,” he said on the podcast. “You can have all the money in the world but if you don’t have your health, you have nothing. It’s been a tough, tough three weeks.”
Julie Chrisley, who co-hosts the show, urged listeners not to take the situation lightly, adding: “If you are doubting or have not been affected by corona personally … you need to know that this is serious.”
The couple’s daughter, Savannah Chrisley, also took to social media to discuss her father’s recent hospitalization.
“I’ve never been so scared in my life,” she wrote in a lengthy Instagram post Wednesday. “When everything started with COVID-19, I was like a lot of u ... my mindset was ‘Wash your hands, don’t touch people and you’ll be okay.’ BUT BOY HAS THAT IRRESPONSIBLE MINDSET CHANGED! When dad started getting sick, I immediately started worrying.”
The 22-year-old also addressed critics who might assume her father was able to get a test because of his celebrity status.
Feds seize coronavirus test kit materials bound for Bellingham hospital and Northwest
“So before people say... ‘OH HE ONLY GOT TESTED BECAUSE HE’S A CELEBRITY...’ u are WRONG!” Savannah added. “He went into an urgent care just like the rest of [you] would. After getting tested he went back home and stayed quarantined in his bedroom for 7 days and then his test came back... POSITIVE... when mom and I read that our hearts dropped.”
Her father’s condition only worsened from there and her mother, Julie, rushed him to an emergency room after he “simply couldn’t fight it any longer.”
Chrisley, 52, remained at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., for what daughter Savannah called “the hardest three days I think I’ve ever endured.”
Chrisley joins a growing list of celebrities diagnosed with coronavirus, including actor Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson, Idris Elba, “The Bachelor’s” Colton Underwood, Debi Mazar and Andy Cohen.
