Jim Parsons's Tasteless Admission on The Tonight Show

Actor Jim Parsons went on the socially distanced version of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday night and revealed that he and husband Todd Spiewak had previously contracted COVID-19 back in the spring. It seems that the disease had no lasting complications for the couple.

"Todd and I both had it early on. It was like the middle of March," he told Fallon. Until more serious symptoms appeared, the couple didn't know that it wasn't just a normal spring cold. "We thought we had colds. And then it seemed less likely, and then finally we lost our sense of smell and taste." This was when they realized what they were dealing with.

Parsons said the loss of smell and taste was so complete it was shocking. "It defied the descriptions for me," he said, "I didn't realize how completely taste and smell could be gone." For Parsons and Spiewak this was one of the most difficult parts of dealing with the disease and recovery.

"When you're in quarantine, and there's really nothing to do but eat, oh, my God that was brutal," he said. As with many of us, the couple had turned to cooking and eating as quarantine hobbies, and COVID took all the pleasure out of those activities for them. "I ate everything, but I just didn't taste it," he joked, "Definition of wasted calories!"

Thankfully, now that their sense of taste and smell have returned to them cooking is enjoyable again. Parsons and Spiewak have fully recovered and it seems that their cases were relatively mild. Parsons is currently starring in the Ryan Murphy produced adaptation of Mart Crowley's seminal play about gay life, The Boys in the Band, which is available now to stream on Netflix.