Nick Knowles kept long COVID battle quiet for fear of losing jobs

Nick Knowles didn't tell anyone he had long COVID for fear he wouldn't be offered any jobs.

The 'DIY SOS' star has revealed he suffered with long COVID for 10 months and during which time he had "no energy at all", but he was scared to tell anyone about it in case it meant he lost out on potential work.

He said: "Right at the start of lockdown, I got COVID pretty bad.

"And me being impatient, I tried to get back into exercise straight away afterwards.

"There seems to be some sort of correlation - and now it seems to be said that going too hard, actually exercising too hard, too soon after COVID, can actually cause you problems.

"And I had long COVID for about ten months - no energy at all, just knackered, but I did not want to tell anybody because I thought I may not get a booking for work.

"So I am walking up huge ladders having to step every two steps."

While Nick is now on the mend, he looked back to his time in the 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!' jungle, when he took part in the show's 18th series in 2018, and the star is pleased he was on the programme with the likes of football manager Harry Redknapp and 'The Chase' quizzer Anne Hegerty.

Speaking on 'Lorraine', he added: "I was lucky I was in with Harry Redknapp, and Anne Hegerty.

"The loveliest crew. We talk all the time, we talk all the time on our WhatsApp group."