Good Morning Britain anchor Charlotte Hawkins battled crippling breathing problems during Covid pandemic
Charlotte Hawkins has revealed she had trouble breathing during the coronavirus crisis as she was "constantly on high alert".
Charlotte Hawkins struggled to breathe during the COVID-19 crisis.
The 50-year-old journalist was "almost hyperventilating" and was later "always breathless" because the pandemic was a continuous breaking news story.
Charlotte - who had a long-form version of the COVID-19 virus, which caused her to experience exhaustion, brain fog and leg numbness and pain - told the new issue of Woman and Home magazine: "During COVID-19, I had real difficulty with my breathing.
"Because it was an ongoing breaking news story, it felt like I was constantly on high alert. I was almost hyperventilating the whole time.
"Without realising, I'd got into a pattern of really shallow breathing, so I was always breathless."
The anchor of ITV's Good Morning Britain sought breathing physio, which taught her how to breathe properly.
Charlotte continued: "I had breathing physio, which showed me the power of breathing properly and slowly, and doing breathing exercises.
"I now try to do that as much as I can because it has a big impact."
Elsewhere in the broadcaster's magazine interview, Charlotte shared that she recently taught her 10-year-old daughter, Ella Rose - who she has with her 51-year-old husband, businessman Mark Herbert - about puberty.
Charlotte - who wanted to tell Ella Rose about the process, in which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction, at a young age - explained: "In a world where there's so much misinformation, it's important to have an open and honest relationship with your children.
"I wanted to talk to Ella Rose about puberty before she heard a distorted version in the playground and got freaked out.
"Last year, I got a book and said, 'We're going to read bits, chat about it, and if you've got any questions, we can talk about it.'"
When Ella Rose learnt how a baby is made, she looked at Charlotte with "horror".
Charlotte continued: "It was all going really well, then she said, 'How's a baby made?'
"I stuck to the biological terms and was very matter-of-fact about it, and she looked at me with horror and said, 'I'm not doing that.'
"Now she's apparently going to adopt. I don't know whether that's a successful birds and bees chat or not!"
