Tom Hanks, who was the first celebrity to be diagnosed with novel coronavirus along with wife Rita Wilson, is opening up about their experience with the COVID-19.

Tom Hanks shared that the respiratory disease left him "fatigued" while Rita Wilson felt "nauseous" as they recovered from their symptoms in Sydney, Australia. In a conversation with "The National Defense Radio Show," the 63-year-old revealed that his wife went through a "tougher time" with the virus than him, reports People.

"She had a much-higher fever and she had some other symptoms. She lost her sense of taste and smell. She got absolutely no joy from food for a better part of three weeks," the "Forrest Gump" actor said about his wife.

The actor further said that the "Mamma Mia" actress "was so nauseous that she had to crawl on the floor from the bed to the facilities." That critical phase lasted for a while. Meanwhile, Tom Hanks "had some body aches and was very fatigued," and struggled to find the energy to do simple exercises as they spent three days in lockdown at a local hospital.

"Whoever it was, doctor, nurse, would come into our air pressurized room, our isolation rooms. She said, 'How are you feeling?' and I said, 'I just had the weirdest thing. I just tried to do basic stretches and exercises on the floor and I couldn't even get halfway through,' " the actor said, adding that was "wiped" after just 12 minutes into a 30-minute exercise.

"And she looked at me through her glasses like she was talking to the dumbest human being. And she said, 'You have COVID-19,'" the "Cast Away" actor said.

Hanks said that he and Wilson still don't have an idea when or how they got infected with the virus in Australia, where he was shooting a film. After recovering from the illness in Australia, the couple returned to their Los Angeles home and have been isolating ever since.

Wilson also opened up about her first-hand experience with the pandemic and said she had "chills like I've never had before."

Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson test positive
Tom Hanks said he and wife Rita Wilson came down with a fever while in Australia. Photo: AFP / VALERIE MACON

In an interview with "CBS This Morning" host Gayle King last week, the 63-year-old said: "Looking back, I also realized that I was losing my sense of taste and smell, which I didn't realize at the time. I was completely nauseous and I had vertigo. I could not walk and my muscles felt very weak."

COVID-19