Jim Parsons was a guest on The Tonight Show last night, and in his conversation with Jimmy Fallon, he revealed that he was diagnosed with COVID-19 back in March — and described the most surprising and "brutal" symptom he experienced.
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Parsons explained to Jimmy that he and his husband, Todd Spiewak, became infected with COVID-19 soon after the pandemic reached the United States.
"Todd and I both had it, early on. It was like, middle of March," he said, adding that this was the first time he was speaking publicly about his experience with the virus.
"We didn't know what it was," he went on. "We thought we had colds. And then it seemed less likely [that it was a cold]. And then we lost our sense of smell and taste and we were like...yeah."
Parsons went on to say that the coronavirus took away his ability to taste and smell food "utterly."
"And it defied the descriptions for me. I didn't realize how completely taste and smell could be gone."
"And when you're in quarantine, and there's really nothing to do but eat...oh my god. That was brutal."
Fallon then asked Parsons whether the lack of taste and smell meant that COVID-19 also gave him a loss of appetite.
"Oh no. I ate everything. I just didn't taste it," he joked. "Definition of wasted calories."
In case you're curious, loss of taste and smell are indeed common symptoms of COVID-19 — and some studies suggest it's actually one of the best indicators we have as to whether a person has been infected with the coronavirus. The more you know!
To learn more about COVID-19, click here. And you can check out Jimmy Fallon's full conversation with Jim Parsons below: