Shirley Ballas has revealed she’s been feeling so ‘exhausted’ since getting coronavirus that she now has to go to bed at 7pm.
The Strictly Come Dancing judge, 60, is in the sixth week of her recovery from COVID-19, but the virus has left her ‘tired’ and needing to go to sleep much earlier than she used to.
Speaking on BBC’s Morning Live which she guest hosted on Friday, Shirley said: ‘Lots of people recovering from COVID, including myself, feel tired.
Difficult: Shirley Ballas has revealed she’s been feeling so ‘exhausted’ since getting coronavirus that she now has to go to bed at 7pm
‘I’ve had it for weeks, I’m going into week six. I’m normally a sprightly person going morning until night.
‘I’m exhausted, I’m tired. And sometimes by seven o’clock, to be quite honest, I just have to go to bed.’
On the show Dr Vanessa Apea advised Shirley to speak to her GP if the tiredness ‘persists for longer, getting up to three months’, and told her to ‘be kind to herself’ during her recovery.
Tough: The Strictly judge, 60, is in the sixth week of her recovery from COVID-19, but the virus has left her ‘tired’ and needing to go to sleep much earlier than she used to (pictured getting vaccine in February)
Shirley admitted she has been ‘worrying’ about ‘keeping moving’, but she now plans to take it easy.
She added: ‘I think a key there is ‘be kind to yourself’.
‘I’m always worrying about keeping moving, but I think that – be kind, take it easy.’
In February, Shirley had the first of her coronavirus jabs, and she encouraged people ‘young and old and everyone in between’ to take the vaccine.
Health: In February, Shirley had the first of her coronavirus jabs, and she encouraged people ‘young and old and everyone in between’ to take the vaccine
She said: ‘At last my turn has come to get my vaccine. I’m totally impressed with my clinic. Straight in, totally organised helpful in every way possible.
‘A little quick jab didn’t hurt at all. Friendly atmosphere with everyone on the same journey. I urge everyone young and old and everyone in between to take the vaccine. If we all do this together we can get back to some sort of normality We are all in this together.’
Last month Shirley admitted she turned to her counsellor for support after being inundated with messages from people struggling with their mental health during lockdown.
Honest: Speaking on BBC’s Morning Live which she guest hosted on Friday, Shirley said: ‘Lots of people recovering from COVID, including myself, feel tired’
The judge returned to therapy in 2020 after feeling ‘overwhelmed’ while writing her warts-and-all memoir, Behind The Sequins: My Life.
And she admits to using her sessions for advice on how to help others after receiving a flurry of desperate messages from followers across social media.
Appearing on Morning Live, she explained: ‘Some are kind of in a bad place, they can’t handle lockdown, they become suicidal and one thing after another.
‘So I thought that I would get some more counselling, to learn some more tools, put my own feelings aside and then try to help the other people who are direct messaging me, which I love by the way, and I feel I’ve steered many people in the right direction.’
The professional dancer attempts to lift spirits by leading an online dance class every Tuesday and Thursday, with boyfriend Danny Taylor often getting involved.
She added: ‘I’m not a counsellor, but I can be there as a support for people, I can make them laugh on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
‘I’ve been teaching Danny to dance, my boyfriend, and anybody can dance and move, and it makes you feel better.
‘But actually going to a counsellor again and saying help me with these tools so I can help other people was very important.’
Lockdown life: The professional dancer has been attempting to lift spirits by leading an online dance class every Tuesday and Thursday, with boyfriend Danny Taylor often getting involved (pictured together)