Former Celebrity Big Brother winner Paddy Doherty has been hospitalised with Covid-19 after being “knocked out” by the virus. 

The 61-year-old was taken to hospital in Chester on Wednesday after contracting the disease and developing pneumonia.

“He was exhausted and was lying in bed for two days,” his manager told the PA news agency. “On the Wednesday his wife said to him, ‘Look, come on, you are really ill, we need to get help’.

“The ambulance came out and they said if you don’t get in there’s a chance you might not wake up.”

Paddy, who rose to fame on Channel 4’s Big Fat Gyspy Weddings, uploaded a video to Facebook from his hospital bed on Friday telling people not to “underestimate” Covid-19. 

He said he thought he was “indestructible”, but the virus has “knocked me down for six”.

“I have been knocked out for the last couple of days,” he said, adding that he can now “sit up” and even “move my hands”.

Paddy, who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2011, added: “I want to say thank you to everyone… for praying for me. I give thanks and praise to everyone.

“I’m a bit on the weak side and all that, but I’m alive.”

Last year, Paddy revealed he had been treated for prostate cancer.