Biggest Loser Vet Jillian Michaels Has A Warning About Gyms After Revealing COVID-19 Diagnosis

Jillian Michaels on Big Brother before Covid-19

Exercise routines have been one of the things that have been majorly impacted for people around the globe as COVID-19 has reared its ugly head. Even today, some workout spaces are still shut down, some have shifted outside, some are open and requiring masks, and some are open but only requiring masks when not working out. Given the fact that heavy breathing can lead to more particles in the air, there have been a lot of warnings about returning to the gym during the pandemic, and The Biggest Loser’s Jillian Michaels is now sharing her own warning as well as her cautionary tale.

Gyms have workout equipment a lot of us simply don’t have at home and skipping gym workouts is simply not a solution for everyone. However, The Biggest Loser’s Jillian Michaels revealed in a brand new interview that at-home workouts may be a better option for anyone who is worried about COVID-19. She also revealed for the first time that she contracted the illness from someone she thought was a trusted source.

All transparency, you don’t need these pieces of equipment to work out at home. So, I know they are hard to get and they’ve gone up in cost exponentially. You have your own body weight. You can use it in a million different ways to get a superior workout. If you are afraid of COVID, you should not go to the gym. 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. 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.

Jillian Michaels’ story mirrors Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s reveal that he had recently contracted COVID-19. The actor also spent time around a friend who did not know they were asymptomatic with the disease at the time they transferred it to the Jumanji: Welcome To the Jungle actor.  The actor has also been a big proponent of "having a plan" before getting back into the gym. 

Though it doesn’t seem as if Jillian Michaels contracted COVID-19 at the gym, she does talk about how being in close proximity with another person not wearing a mask could lead to contracting the disease.

All I can tell you is that if you is that 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. It’s just that simple. So, if you are 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. 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.

Instead of workouts out, during the pandemic, Jillian Michaels has been pushing workouts on her app, which offers seven minutes of free at-home workouts everyday before there is a paywall. Even if weights are not an option, she’s offering a lot of full bodyweight options that can be good for someone who used to be the average gym user.

It’s far different from the work Jillian Michaels used to do on Big Brother encouraging contestants to use tons of different pieces of equipment to achieve weight loss goals, but given no one knew how 2020 would have panned out a year ago, having this business venture was pretty prescient for Michaels’ brand. Here’s hoping she spends the rest of the year safe, healthy and finding new ways to work out.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.