Hugh Grant says coronavirus left him desperate to smell strangers' armpits
The Undoing actor and his wife Anna Eberstein contracted Covid-19 in February, and Hugh lost his sense of smell
Hugh Grant has revealed how he became desperate to sniff strangers' armpits after being struck down with coronavirus.
The Undoing actor, 60, and his wife Anna Eberstein both contracted the deadly virus in February this year.
Hugh said he realised he was suffering badly when he sprayed perfume directly into his face and couldn't smell a thing.
A loss of smell and/or taste is one of the key symptoms associated with Covid-19, according to NHS guidelines.
Explaining how his condition worsened over time, Hugh told The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: "It started as just a very strange syndrome where I kept breaking into a terrible sweat.
"It was like a poncho of sweat, embarrassing really," he added.
"Then my eyeballs felt about three sizes too big and this feeling as though an enormous man was sitting on my chest - Harvey Weinstein or someone," joked Hugh.
"I thought, I don't know what this is. Then I was walking down the street one day and I thought I can't smell a damn thing and you start to panic."
He went on: "I started sniffing flowers, nothing.
"And you get more and more desperate. I started sniffing in garbage cans. You know, you want to sniff strangers' armpits because you just can't smell anything."
Hugh said he realised how bad things were when he sprayed his wife's Chanel No.5 directly into his face and couldn't smell a thing.
"But I did go blind," he quipped.
The Bridget Jones star said he then spent the rest of quarantine happily playing Barbies with his children.
“I enjoyed making them fall in love, they became very fond of each other, these two Barbies.
"One of them was Barbie and one of them was Elsa from Frozen. They developed an affair.
"I took photos of them kissing each other and sent them to friends; this is what happens in a very long lockdown," he said.
Hugh said he and wife had the antibodies test and were hopeful that they wouldn't catch the virus again.
“I have antibodies, I'm rather proud of them, so we're not going to get it [again], I don't think,” he mused.
Hugh and Anna are parents to John Mungo, eight, and a four-year-old and two-year-old whose names they have chosen to keep private.
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