Celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels is warning people to stay away from the gym to avoid catching coronavirus. Photo / Getty Images
Celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels is warning people to stay away from the gym to avoid catching coronavirus. Photo / Getty Images
Super-fit former Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels has issued a warning about gym safety after contracting Covid-19 "several weeks" ago.
The star's advice: If you're afraid of getting Covid, avoid public gyms at all costs.
The US reality star spoke out during an interview with Fox Business this week, revealing she contracted the deadly virus after she "literally let her guard down for an hour".
"If you are afraid of Covid, you should not go to the gym. And I actually am a person who let my guard down, I haven't even spoken about this publicly really, and a very close friend of mine gave me Covid several weeks ago," she confessed.
"I'm fortunate to have gone into it being healthy and I was able to get on the other side of it pretty quick. But, not everyone is that lucky as we know. And all I can tell you is if you are afraid of getting Covid, a public gym is probably a place where you will get it."
Michaels – who rose to TV fame whipping overweight contestants on The Biggest Loser into shape – admitted it was hard for her to advise people to avoid gyms.
"I would love to tell you that's not the case, but the reality is I literally let my guard down for an hour with one of my best friends who does my hair and makeup and got it," she said.
Celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels is warning people to stay away from the gym to avoid catching coronavirus. Photo / Getty Images
"It's just that simple. So if you're not in a mask and that person is not in a mask, and they have Covid and have no idea – because, by the way, I had no idea that I had it for six days [and] my friend had no idea that she had it when she gave it to me – anticipate that you will likely get it in an environment like that and if you are afraid of it, by all means, it's not a move that I would recommend making."
Michaels' warning comes as gyms in Australia have faced increased scrutiny over hygiene practices.
Michaels is one of many celebrities going public with their own coronavirus experiences – actress Alyssa Milano has in recent weeks offered candid public updates about her own months-long battle with the virus.
Last week action star Dwayne Johnson revealed that he and his family had been struck down with the virus.
And production on the next Batman film has been suspended after reports that the film's leading man Robert Pattinson has tested positive to the virus, which has so far infected almost 28 million people worldwide.
