Gemma Collins has opened up about her families battle with Covid and revealed her dad is "fighting for his life" in hospital.
The former TOWIE star announced the sad news on her BBC podcast The Gemma Collins Podcast.
"It has been just the most awful Christmas and New Year for me. I am not going to dwell on it," she began.
"Both of my parents have had Covid. My dad is still in hospital now. He's literally been fighting for his life.
"It has been one awful time of it but I'm so happy to be back chatting with you all," she told her listeners.
The 39-year-old reality star went on to admit that the past few weeks haven't been easy.
"Things are so difficult. It is relentless at the moment with everything going on. I am finding myself juggling so many plates at the minute.
"It's been a real shock to myself and my family with my dad being in hospital.
"He's the one who kind of looks after us all and has always been the strong one in the family. It is all on me."
Check out: 11 jaw-dropping TOWIE couples we completely forgot about
11 TOWIE couples you completely forgot about - slider
1 of 11Mark Wright and Sam Faiers
Mark and Sam's on/off relationship goes all the way back to when she was 16 and they met on MySpace (aw, those were the days). They briefly dated during their time on TOWIE but were never able to give things a proper go before he quit the show in 2011.
2 of 11Kirk Norcross and Amy Childs
Kirk and Amy's flirtationship was one of the main storylines during the first season of TOWIE and they eventually briefly dated before splitting in 2011. In a 2013 appearance on This Morning, Kirk admitted, "I will still love Amy until the day I die - she is literally like the girl version of me. When it didn't work out, it broke my heart really... and it wasn't her fault, it was both of our fault."
3 of 11Gemma Collins and Charlie King
Gemma and Charlie briefly dated in 2012 but split after she grew concerned about his friendship with Bobby Norris. Two years later, Charlie came out as gay during an appearance on This Morning. He's still friends with Gemma and even admitted in 2017 that he would consider being the GC's sperm donor if she asked.What a turn of events that would be.
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4 of 11Lauren Goodger and Tom Pearce
Remember the days when Joey Essex's BFF Tom Pearce romanced basically every woman within a 10 mile radius of Brentwood? Lauren Goodger became one his many conquests following her split from Mark Wright but they hit the rocks when she caught wind of him bragging about their rendezvous.
5 of 11Mario Falcone and Chloe Sims
It's fair to say Chloe Sims has been unlucky in love over the years but things looked up for her when she began dating close pal Mario. Things moved quick for the pair and she even admitted she loved him - causing friction with BFF Lauren Pope who'd previously dated Mario - but he wasn't ready to settle down and called things off.
6 of 11Harry Derbidge and Bobby Norris
After three years away from the TOWIE scene, OG cast member Harry Derbidge returned as Bobby Norris' boyfriend (in some very skimpy swimwear, nonetheless) during the cast's annual jaunt to Marbs.Their relationship ended in tears though when Harry confessed to sleeping with his ex while on holiday in Tenerife.
7 of 11Dan Osborne and Lucy Mecklenburgh
They've now found love with soap star other halves Jacqueline Jossa and Ryan Thomas but before that, Dan Osborne and Lucy Mecklenburgh were an item.They began dating in 2013 but called it quits amid claims he knew about his ex Megan Tomlin being pregnant before getting with Lucy.
8 of 11Charlie Sims and Ferne McCann
Ferne McCann's on/off relationship with Chloe Sims' brother Charlie provided LOTS of dramz on TOWIE over the years, with rumours she cheated on him cropping up more than once.Eventually Charlie publicly quit the show AND dumped Ferne at the same time in a series of tweets in 2014. Awks...
9 of 11Dan Edgar and Kate Wright
Before she wed footballer Rio and became Mrs Ferdinand, Kate Wright joined TOWIE as the ex of Dan Edgar, who reportedly dumped her to star in the show.She took him back after his romances with Lauren Pope and Jess Wright but it wasn't to be and they eventually split for good.
10 of 11Shelby Tribble and Tom McDonnell
Tom McDonnell joined TOWIE alongside a whole host of newbies including Harry Lee and Chloe Brockett in 2019 and soon caught the eye of Shelby Tribble following her split from Sam Mucklow.Sam soon came back on the scene though and Shelby dumped Tom to reunite with her ex. Sam and Shelby later quit the show together and are now expecting their first child.
11 of 11James Argent and Jasmin Walia
In between his long-running relationships with Lydia Bright and Gemma Collins, James Argent was set up on a blind date with Jasmin Walia and they appeared to hit it off. Things seemed to move too quickly for his liking though, causing him to run from her house after being introduced to her parents. Oh, Arg...
Gemma went on to add, "I don't mind because things don't always go to plan in life. I hope you are all staying safe as much as you can.
"It's not been a great Christmas or New Year, roll on next Christmas and next New Year.
"I am just going to forget about last year, it has not been good."
The GC also told her fans that the past few weeks have been nonstop, "I've had to be a superhero with two parents in hospital with two businesses and a TV career and a dog.
"There is so much. You don't realise how much has to get done."
Shortly before Christmas, Gemma told her fans that her parents were battling coronavirus in an emotional Instagram post.
And earlier this month she revealed her dad said he'd "rather be dead than experience everything he is going through right now".
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After insisting that her dream of marriage and a baby will finally happen in 2021, an insider has revealed that Gemma is back with on/off boyfriend, James “Arg” Argent.
"Arg has been a huge support to Gemma over the past few weeks, especially with her parents’ illness.
"He’s shown how far he’s come on his sobriety journey – checking-in on her constantly and being on the other end of the phone for her whenever she needs a shoulder to cry on," a source told Closer magazine.
They added, "While the lockdown restrictions have made it hard to see each other, they’ve been for a couple of walks – adhering to the rules of seeing one person outside their household."