Coronation Street star Shobna Gulati reveals she’s still suffering effects of coronavirus a year on from the illness
CORONATION Street star Shobna Gulati has revealed she is still suffering the effects of a year on from contracting the illness.
The 51-year-old actress - who played Sunita Alahan on the ITV soap - thought she was going to die last year after falling ill with Covid and then developing pneumonia.
Today, Shobna spoke out about still feeling unwell as she responded to a tweet from journalist Kathryn Bromwich about her own long Covid symptoms.
Kathryn wrote: "Young people: please continue being careful. I caught Covid last March and I'm still unwell.
"I can't exercise at all (even yoga) or drink alcohol (even a small glass of wine and my mental health is all over the place.
"It's painful, scary and v boring. You don't want this."
Shobna said the experience echoed her own, writing back: "This is all very familiar - it's awful I had it in March last year and still working on getting through"
Speaking about her symptoms when she had Covid, Shobna recently told The Times: "When I had coronavirus and couldn't smell or taste it was depressing.
"I live in a little community who rallied round me. I was really hot; a temperature beyond menopause. I couldn't take a deep breath for three months. I was exhausted. I had to crawl upstairs on all fours.
"I was diagnosed with pneumonia and had three rounds of antibiotics.
"I just couldn't get rid of it. There were times I thought: 'If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die.'"
Shobna starred in Coronation Street for 12 years until her character was bumped off in 2013.
The popular star's alter-ego was tragically killed by her ex-lover Karl Munro when he tampered with her life support machine.
But while Sunita's exit was final, Shobna is holding out hope she'll return to the cobbles as a villain.
Speaking on, she said: "They should bring me back as Sunita's twin. The mean twin, the mean Sunita. It would be nice to go back because as an actor, it's really hard, isn't it? In terms of any kind of security that you might want to have."
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Shobna made her Corrie debut back in 2001 when Sunita fled an arranged marriage in India and took a job in Dev's cornershop.
The pair hit it off and married in 2006 - but the relationship ended in an off-screen divorce not long after when Sunita was written out.
She returned in 2009 and eventually gave in to Dev's efforts to win her back, however, cracks again began to show and they split for a second time.
The actress has had roles in Doctor Who and West End smash Everybody's Talking About Jamie in recent years.