Jillian Michaels had COVID-19: ‘I literally let my guard down for an hour’

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Last week, Dwayne Johnson admitted his whole family contracted COVID-19 from one get together with friends in which they all thought they’d done everything they should have. Anna Camp also talked about going out without a mask one time and contracting it. Jillian Michaels is the latest celebrity to come forward about catching COVID the one time she relaxed on precautions with someone who didn’t know they had it. Jillian met with a good friend for one hour, once, without a mask, and they both fell ill within days.

Jillian Michaels is opening up about her experience with coronavirus.

On Tuesday, the fitness trainer, 49, revealed she had contracted COVID-19 “several weeks ago” as she discussed why people should consider not going to the gym amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“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 said during an interview with Fox Business discussing her at-home workout app.

“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,” she continued. “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.”

“I would love to tell you that’s not the case, but the reality is I literally get my guard down for an hour with one of my best friends who does my hair and makeup and got it,” Michaels said. “It’s just that simple.”

The Biggest Loser alum went on to explain that her friend did not know she had coronavirus when they met up, and neither one of them knew they had contracted the virus until days after the meeting.

“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,” she said of going to the gym.

“If you are afraid of it, by all means, it’s not a move that I would recommend making,” Michaels added.

[From People]

So Jillian met her friend on day a while back and the friend unknowingly spread the virus to Jillian. But did they meet in a gym? I get that she’s promoting her at home workouts and that’s why she keeps harping about not going to a gym, but it is kind of a big part of the story. Since gyms were one of the first businesses to close down during quarantine, and considering the amount of body fluids floating around there, I think going into a gym without a mask is a choice, not a matter of letting one’s guard down. Anyone on that floor could be an asymptomatic carrier. But, if Jillian and her friend met for lunch or even a blow out, I get Jillian’s shock. I was far too casual about the possibility of contracting the virus before quarantine. And it’s because of stories like Jillian’s that I take every precaution now. The only person I actually know who’s been hospitalized with COVID caught it in a medical rehabilitation facility, which is no surprise. But all of these stories of easing up on safety just that once have convinced me to not take anything for granted.

Honestly, I’m looking at this mask thing like I did condoms in the 90s. I don’t care what ‘they’ say, until I see a negative test, keep it covered.

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Photo credit: Instagram

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16 Responses to “Jillian Michaels had COVID-19: ‘I literally let my guard down for an hour’”

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  1. Becks1 says:

    I’m getting the impression they met in a gym, or maybe she is just speaking generally – she got it from a one hour meeting with no masks, think of the germs spreading in a gym. And I agree, I’m really surprised that so many gyms here reopened, it just seems like a recipe for disaster.

    • manda says:

      I walked into my planet fitness to freeze my membership (which I’ll probably just end up canceling), and it was very nearly empty. In the beforetimes, it would have been packed. So I think a lot of people have stopped going, but even with the reduction, I always see cars there. Personally, working out with a mask on sounds over the top uncomfortable to me. I can do a youtube video at home without all that extra stress

  2. Jess says:

    She looks really pretty with her hair like that, definitely rocking at almost 50. Glad she recovered quickly, she’s lucky.

    The masks work, wear them. I’m in urgent care and all we’ve had this entire time is masks, we wash our hands like crazy, sanitize everything constantly, and keeps our masks on. Only one of my coworkers caught covid and she got it from her husband who works at the hospital. Our area has seen a huge decrease since the mask ordinance.

    • IMUCU says:

      @Jess Agree, the masks work! I work in a large pediatric office and so far none of us have caught it. We began wearing N95s with a paper mask over it and goggles /face shields right away when this all began. Hot and not the most comfortable, but it protects us and our patients (-: .

  3. Erin says:

    I’ve always loved her workouts and attitude though I know she can be problematic. I’m really here to say she looks FANTASTIC and what a testament to exercise! I’m a fitness buff and she’s always been an inspiration. I’m glad she’s recovered and sharing the reality like this; folks need to know that even one interaction can expose you.

  4. Also Ali says:

    I don’t like the comment that because she’s healthy she got over it quickly. That’s what all covid deniers are saying – it’s only a big deal if you are old or unhealthy to begin with. More likely she got over it quickly because she didn’t get a high viral dose in that limited contact.

    • eezer says:

      ^^100%. she always has to get a dig in on why the fact that she’s just SO healthy is why good things happen to her. 1) i don’t actually think her obsession and judgement around weight and body image are mentally healthy 2) being fit isn’t a virtue!! she’s lucky – period. also she doesn’t know what covid did to her that will show up at later date that has nothing to do with fitness, like glaucoma or a-fib. i hope nothing like that occurs to her but also shut up girl! furthermore – i would bet my life she didn’t just have this one, hour long time she let her guard down. everyone i know who has had it is everywhere BUT their house and just can’t figure out for the life of them why they got it. (eyeroll)

      • Lizzie Bathory says:

        Well said, eezer. She’s lucky. Many young, healthy, “fit” people have been killed or horribly sickened by this disease. It’s gross for her to suggest this was anything but luck. To me, she’ll always be the person who tormented fat people for a reality TV paycheck.

    • Tourmaline says:

      Yeah good point. I can’t stand her she’s incredibly obnoxious IMO.

      But I do think she makes the good point that she caught it from a single interaction with a close friend. By what she says about the friend doing her hair and makeup maybe that was the nature of the close contact they had.
      It was the same deal as The Rock—- people are most likely to get this from close friends, relatives, or coworkers that they are spending time interacting with (chatting face to face, or eating together, or hugging etc) up close and unmasked. So many seem to think that you can only get it from strangers or huge crowds.

    • Mexicalidesi says:

      Agreed. There is a lot of evidence that the virus leaves behind terrible, potentially permanent damage in its wake, no matter how old the victims.

      See, eg, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/bigten/2020/09/03/big-ten-athletes-covid-had-myocarditis-symptoms-one-third-cases/5704234002/

      (1/3 of college football players with covid show symptoms of serious heart condition afterwards.)

  5. MaryContrary says:

    This is why I get so frustrated when I talk to friends who are still getting together with other people for meals/drinks/vacations without masks or super close up: just because you know them doesn’t mean you can’t get covid!! ARGH.

    • Venus says:

      We went to our neighbors’ last weekend for a (very) small party that had been planned for outside, but they moved it inside because of weather. I was shocked that we were the only 2 people wearing masks inside! The couple are both very high risk (one is terminally ill), so I can ony assume that everyone else had a negative test. It was unsettling, though, and now I am nervous.

  6. JanetDR says:

    I was just saying making that condom analogy to my honey this weekend! We were invited to an outdoor bonfire at a nearby cabin with just another couple and it felt very awkward because it wasn’t discussed (by the men) first. We rehearsed how to ask if masks were being worn. But it is so much easier not to get together! And it’s not worth it unless they are people you love!

  7. Who ARE These People? says:

    It’s not worth it especially if it’s people you love.