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Judi Love says 'Strictly' fitness is helping her cope with COVID

Programme Name: Strictly Come Dancing 2021 - TX: 02/10/2021 - Episode: Strictly Come Dancing - TX2 LIVE SHOW (No. n/a) - Picture Shows: ++LIVE SHOW++ Judi Love, Graziano Di Prima - (C) BBC - Photographer: Guy Levy
Judi Love says her Strictly fitness is helping her fight COVID. (BBC/Guy Levy)

Judi Love has said she is thankful for having got fit through training for Strictly Come Dancing because she believes it is helping her to fight COVID.

The comedian and Loose Women star was forced to take a week off from Strictly when she tested positive for COVID last week, but tweeted a video from her sickbed on Monday afternoon that showed she was still struggling with the virus.

Read more: All the times COVID caused chaos for reality TV

Captioned "Dam Rona!!! Health is Wealth!!! See you soon. Stay safe!!", the video featured a croaky-voiced Love urging her followers to take their health seriously.

Love, who dances with Graziano Di Prima, lay in her bed as she told how Strictly had helped her: "I don't even know what day it is. Some kind of motivation day.

Watch: Who is Strictly's Judi Love?

"I just want to say to you guys, Rona is real. I give thanks that I was doing little exercise and dancing thing. I feel like I'm handling it much better than I would have had, if I hadn't been doing little exercise and a little sweat."

Talking about some of the recovery measures she'd taken, she said: "I eat the garlic, onion, turmeric, the honey, the expensive honey, the Manuka one, the ginger, the lime, the lemon, the rum, I've had all kinds of soup, chicken foot soup, lamb neck soup, red peas and my voice is still like this and then Rona will turn round to you and say to you, on top of that, I'm not going to make you able to smell or taste."

She continued: "It's been a rough couple of days and it's really about for you to get your health in order. Health is wealth and I'm not just talking about catching that cheque, I just mean having your health so you can live at your optimum.

Programme Name: Strictly Come Dancing 2021 - TX: n/a - Episode: Strictly Come Dancing - Generics (No. n/a) - Picture Shows:  Judi Love, Graziano Di Prima - (C) BBc - Photographer: Ray Burmiston
Judi Love is hoping for a return to dancing with Graziano Di Prima. (BBC/Ray Burmiston)

"You can continue creating memories, having life experience, spending time with loved ones as long as possible, because Rona has got me locked up in here. Like I'm the woman from Orange Is The New Black. Rona has got me sleeping like someone with no ambition. Rona has got me standing at the window waving, like a Black kid who wants to play on Sunday and her mom says, 'you're mad'. That's what Rona's doing to me."

Mum-of-two Love, 41, added: "Rona will take you away from your family and make you miss them even though you're in the yard with them."

Read more: Strictly's AJ and Kai rival Adam and Katya's 'almost kiss'

She warned: "Rona is acting like a player, Rona go from that body to this body to that body, making you think that it's not going to everybody, but really spreading about in everybody and you're not the only one."

Love thanked her fans for their well wishes but did not give any update on whether she would be well enough to return to Strictly this weekend.

Watch: Who's judging this year's Strictly?