Gethin Jones says quitting ‘Celebrity MasterChef’ was the "easiest decision in the world".
The 42-year-old presenter pulled out of the cooking show’s final, which aired last week with judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode explaining that he had suffered with coronavirus symptoms.
Appearing as the co-host on ‘The One Show’ on Monday (03.08.20), he said: "I think it was coronavirus but I didn’t get the test in time because there weren’t many tests.
"I was speaking to my sister, who you know works in a hospital, and she spoke to the doctors, and they [said] assume COVID.
"Actually, it was the easiest decision in the world. I thought, ‘There’s no way I’m going to go back to work if I’m putting anyone else at risk.’
"That was that, and I was absolutely gutted to leave like that."
Gethin had no problem isolating with the illness as he was already stocked up with food thanks to his time honing his culinary skills for the show.
He added: "I looked around and I had all this food that I’d been practicing on for the next round.
"I had, like, six kilograms of salmon… I’ve still got salmon left!"
Following the second semi, the final was broadcast, which saw YouTube star Riyadh Khalaf crowned the champion after he wowed Gregg and fellow judge John Torode.
Riyadh saw off competition from hockey pro Sam Quek and Olympic rowing legend Sir Matthew Pinsent.
Gethin previously revealed he felt "intimidated" by John and thought he "really hated [him]" on ‘Celebrity Masterchef’.
The Welsh star said: "Gregg loves his rugby, so we had good banter. He’s very funny and he knew about Celtic history.
"But John is the one who I was intimidated by. The first day I met him, I went to shake his hand and he said, ‘I’m not shaking your hand, you’ve got fish on it.’
"I thought he really hated me! But what’s great about John is that he wants you to cook well. They’re both passionate about food and about people learning to create good food."