Julia Morris gave an update on her health by revealing her experience with shingles. The comedian and host of I’m A Celeb... shared the news with a post on Instagram.
In her post, the TV WEEK Gold Logie nominee shared that she had never realised she was at risk of contracting the virus.
“You know what’s not funny? The kind of baggage that comes with getting older,” Julia wrote, referencing research commissioned by GSK Australia that shows that Australians aged 50-69 years of age are aware of the virus, but not of its risk to them. “For me, it was shingles. I went through it, and let me tell you, it was incredibly painful and debilitating. Before this experience, I didn’t know that shingles is caused by a reactivation of the same virus that causes chickenpox earlier in life.”
More people are at risk of shingles than we may realise
Julia is not the first Aussie celebrity to share their shingles diagnosis. Deborah Knight sat down with The Weekly for an exclusive interview on her own experience with the virus.
“I’ve had lower back issues for quite a few years now, since having children, and my lower back was really playing up and I was almost bed-bound because I was quite debilitated with pain,” Deborah shared in that interview. “At the same time, I’d been having this strange sensation on my face or my cheek, feeling as though there was hair there or a spiderweb, but there wasn’t anything there.”
Turns out, she was already exhibiting symptoms of shingles. Furthermore, had she not been proactive and gone to her GP, it could have been much worse for her.
“It’s important you talk to your GP about it,” Deborah stresses. “If you’re going in to your doctor for a general check-up or for whatever reason, just ask them about shingles.”
Julia Morris on her experience with shingles
Unlike Deborah, who thankfully had a mild shingles experience, Julia’s was more debilitating.
“When shingles hit me, I was in the middle of one of the busiest times of my career. The physical toll was immediate and overwhelming — I had a red rash across my torso, an aching body and the most brutal headache,” she said in a statement.
“I could barely get through a day without collapsing back into bed. Even simple tasks like having a shower left me exhausted, and I was completely debilitated for weeks. Shingles wasn’t just painful; it completely altered how I lived and worked.”
She was dealing with the virus while filming House Husbands.
“We still had two big final scenes to film for House Husbands. Production set up a bed for me on location and had a nurse standing by. I slept between scenes and setups and was just begging for the final day of filming to come.”
Both Julia’s mother and grandmother also contracted the virus, but she never expected to experience it herself.
“Most of us know someone who has had shingles and how painful it can be. My experience taught me that it can strike earlier than you think and change your life for months. Shingles wasn’t just painful; it completely altered how I lived and worked.
“Years on, the experience remains etched in my memory. I’ve learnt that you can’t ignore your health. Shingles is not something you can just push through. I wish I had known the risks sooner.” she said.
What is shingles?
Shingles is a painful skin rash caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus that causes chickenpox. According to research from GSK Australia, it can affect one in three Australians at some point in their lifetime. Furthermore, it states that 97 per cent of Australians over 40 carry the virus.
As we age, our immune systems weaken, and so the dormant virus can reactivate.
Find out more about the virus and how to protect yourself from it here.
“Almost all Australians have had chickenpox at some stage in life. The virus never really leaves the body, so for most Australians, the risk of shingles is very real. Even if you don’t recall having chickenpox, that doesn’t mean you are free from risk,” said Dr Timothy Tan, Cardiologist and Professor at Western Sydney University.
“As we age, so does our immune system, and it becomes less effective at suppressing the virus, increasing the likelihood of it reactivating as shingles. That’s why it’s so important for Australians, especially who are over the age of 50, to speak with your GP or pharmacist to understand your risk.”
