Howard Stern was absent from his SiriusXM show last week because he finally got COVID-19.
The notorious germaphobe — who had managed to avoid getting the virus since the pandemic started in 2020 — explained his absence on Monday’s episode, telling his listeners, “I took a sick day and I’m still sick, you can still hear it in my voice.”
“We were supposed to be back last week. We weren’t because I got COVID-19,” he revealed.
The “Miss America” author, 69, stressed that the illness was no small matter.
“I just want to announce something. COVID is really bad,” he shared. “You do not want COVID. Oh f–k.”
“Man, I went through hell … I’ve really never been this sick,” he added.
Stern also thanked the doctors and scientists who had worked on a vaccine to lessen the effects of COVID-19.
“What a wallop this thing is -– can you imagine if we didn’t have the vaccine?” he wondered.
The last time the “Private Parts” star took a sick day was back in May 2017, which is why his absence last week caused quite a stir on social media.
Last September, Howard confessed that his paranoia over contracting COVID-19 had caused arguments between him and his wife, Beth Stern.
“I’m going crazy with this,” Stern said at the time. “My wife yelled at me last night. We got into a fight.”
The self-proclaimed “King of All Media” added, “You know how paranoid I am about getting COVID. I haven’t gotten it, and I’m pretty safe, and I really don’t want to get it.”
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He has also lashed out at critics who are anti-vaxxers or accuse him of being “woke.”
“And if woke means I can’t get behind Trump, which is what I think it means, or that I support people who want to be transgender or I’m for the vaccine, dude, call me woke as you f–king want,” Stern angrily said in a September 2023 rant.
Page Six exclusively reported that the radio personality hadn’t left his home in two years.
In fact, the first time he ventured out from his “apocalypse bunker” was in October 2022 when he was spotted dining at Israeli restaurant Laser Wolf in Williamsburg, N.Y.
Stern joined a slew of celebs including Jennifer Aniston, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Hamm, Justin Theroux and Justin Bateman.
A fellow diner overheard the shock jock tell restaurant staff that “this was his first night out since the pandemic.”
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