Gogglebox’s Jonathan Tapper was left fighting for life after falling ill with coronavirus
GOGGLEBOX’S Jonathan Tapper was left fighting for his life after contracting the deadly coronavirus.
The reality TV star, 52, who has diabetes, was left “heaving with every breath” as his distraught family anxiously watched by his bedside.
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Speaking to the Daily Star, his wife Nikki, 47, said: “One night Jonathan came home from work and was unable to move.
“He had a cough and high temperature. He laid down on the sofa and – with no exaggeration – he stayed there for two weeks in our lounge room.”
Doctors told the family to keep Jonathan at home and he was attached to an oxygen monitor.
Nikki continued: “I rushed downstairs and couldn’t believe how pale he was, heaving with every breath.
“I tried to keep calm, asking him all the time if he could breathe. I felt that I couldn’t think straight because I was so unwell myself at the time too. Amy was crying.”
Last year Jonathan lost nearly three stone in 12 weeks after being diagnosed with diabetes.
He slimmed down from 21st 3lb to 18st 8lb and also saw his waist shrink down from 44 inches to 38.
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Jonathan – who said hours sitting in front of the telly filming Googlebox was one of the reasons behind his weight gain – made the change after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
He said at the time: “I love to eat so keeping the weight off has always been a struggle.
“I’ve lost weight a few times, through cutting out the rubbish in my diet and upping the exercise, but over the years the pounds have slowly crept back on.”
The star, who is seen munching takeaways with wife Nikki and kids Josh and Amy on the show, now has porridge for breakfast, a veggie lunch and healthy stir-fry for dinner.
His calorie intake has dropped from more than 3,000 a day to around 1,800 and he now exercises four times a week.
Jonathan took on the Musclefood.com Do The Unthinkable diet, which features high intensity workouts and low-calorie pre-prepared meals.
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