Eamonn Holmes tells how "shingles scared the life out of me"

Popular TV presenter Eamonn Holmes, now a stalwart on GB News, posted a video on Instagram alongside former Strictly Come Dancing performer James Jordan, commissioned by GSK (GlaxoSmithKline), to "stress that shingles should be taken seriously", in support of Shingles Awareness Week.

The North Belfast man also told how his shingles happened around the same time of his son's wedding and that he had also gone through a "stressful experience" which was a court case.

Eamonn said: "It scared the life out of me...

"Mine was on my face. And as you know, my face is my fortune.

"And I'm suddenly going, 'I can't even look at myself in the mirror'.

"And the really dangerous point about this that the doctor was worried about was that it was around my eye and if it spreads to your eye, then that could affect your vision.

"So it was very frightening, very scary.

"So it's ironic we are talking about Shingles Awareness Week, and I don't know about you, but I wasn't aware what happened to me when it appeared."

James Jordan replied: "No, I wasn't really aware of what shingles was, to be honest with you.

"I knew what chickenpox was, but I didn't know what shingles was.

"And I was on holiday when I got it. Mine was down my left hand side on my beltline.

"So it was just irritating all the time and it's quite painful as well…

"It felt for me like I was sunburned and someone was rubbing sand in it for about two weeks. Just persistent.

"I thought when Ola [his partner] was putting the sun cream on my back that she missed a bit, and I was actually quite angry with her."

Eamonn added: "Neither of the two of us expected it. When I look back now, there were factors, like stress, like age, like having chickenpox [as shingles is caused by the reactivation of the chickenpox virus, GSK say] that meant that, you know, there was a chance I was going to have it. What about you?"

James replied: "Yeah, see, I always thought, like I've heard of shingles before, I didn't really understand it, but I always remember thinking it's generally older people [who get it]."

He laughed while looking at Eamonn and added: "Like yourself."

The NI man then explained how it is not just 'older people' who get shingles.

Eamonn told: "I must have been at least 50 when I had it. When I got my shingles, I must have been about 55.

"You though [James] bucked the trend, because normally you're more susceptible if you're 50 years of age or over.

"However, it would be wrong to think this is just an older person's condition."

James said: "I do believe mine was brought on by the loss of my father. And I was stressed and my immune system was low and you know, just I wasn't feeling great."

Eamonn also told how he had to attend his son's wedding while he was ill.

James said: "If you are over the age of 50, you're at an increased risk and that is the key message."