Idris Elba's coronavirus battle was 'sobering'

Idris Elba admitted having coronavirus was “very sobering”.

The ‘Mountain Between Us’ actor and his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba were among the first high-profile names to be diagnosed with the virus at the start of the pandemic last year and although the pair only had mild symptoms, the 48-year-old star admitted it was a “traumatic” time as he was deemed high risk because he has asthma and so little was known about COVID-19 at the time.

He told the Evening Standard newspaper: “Facing my mortality, being diagnosed with Covid and not knowing what it was at the time – going through that was very sobering.”

The couple were subjected to “stupid” conspiracy theories that they were being paid to lie about the virus and Idris and Sabrina admitted it only made their recovery harder.

He added: “The aftermath was really soul-destroying. The last year has been a travesty. We feel very lucky we came out with our health and our beating hearts but there was a real recovery process that was difficult… I’m really lucky though because I had my partner with me who was there for every second.”

Meanwhile, the ‘Luther’ star is working on a TV project with his 19-year-old daughter Isan – who he has from his first marriage to Hanne Norgaard – and he learned a lot from having Kim Kardashian West and her mother and manager Kris Jenner on his and Sabrina’s ‘Coupledom’ podcast.

He said: “Kris loves her children and works really hard for them but she never stops being a mother – there are really clear boundaries and expectations and procedures.

“There are natural avenues that [Isan] and I are going to go down. I learnt a lot from Kris and Kim.”

After interviewing a number of high-profile guests for the podcast series, the couple admitted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are on their wishlist for the next installment.

Sabrina said: “I think they’re an amazing partnership with a great story to tell.”