Claire Sweeney says she was hospitalised with coronavirus symptoms in December

Actress and presenter Claire Sweeney has revealed she fell ill late last year with what she now believes were “horrendous” coronavirus symptoms.

The former 60-Minute Makeover presenter appeared on Tuesday’s Loose Women, where she told the panel that she and five-year-old son Jaxon were rushed to hospital.

“On Christmas Eve, it hit me and I was due in pantomime, and I just plough through, never miss a show, but I was wiped off my feet,” she said via video call.

“I felt like a bus had hit me. I had headaches, coughs, fever. Jaxon got ill too, and I got sent home twice from the show.”

The 49-year-old eventually sought treatment, explaining: “In the end, I went to a walk-in centre and they said they never heard lungs that bad on a non smoker and they took me straight to hospital. I was on a nebuliser to help with my breathing.”

She said that she thought she had a severe bout of flu. “I was worried about [my son] Jaxon, I was very lucky because I was in Liverpool and had family around me.

'It lasted a month as well, it took me a month to get better, normally if I'm sick I'm straight back to work, it was a bit scary you know.”

The ordeal left her so worried that she also admitted to going into lockdown a week before the rest of the country, having seen how quickly the virus was spreading around the world.

Luckily she and Jaxon are back to full health now, and Sweeney admitted she’s been enjoying spending time at home with her son.

She said she’s since taken an antibody test and is waiting to hear whether she did have the virus.