JOE Swash once spent two weeks in intensive care battling meningitis and encephalitis - a swelling of the brain. The 38-year-old actor, who was in EastEnders at the time, had to take a three-month break from the soap in 2005 as he battled his way back to health.
In fact, the star - now a favourite alongside girlfriend Stacey Solomon on Celebrity Gogglebox - spent six weeks in hospital with the very rare virus meningoencephalitis.
It proved to be a long road to recovery for young Joe, who was then in his early 20s, undergoing gruelling physio sessions to help him learn to talk and move again.