Jonathan Ross has cancelled his legendary Halloween party over fears that he’ll create a ‘superspreader’ event.
The presenter, whose annual bash is normally a staple of the celebrity calendar, also revealed that his daughter has been suffering from fibromyalgia, and he didn’t feel comfortable throwing the party while she is struggling with the condition.
Speaking on Tuesday’s Good Morning Britain, Jonathan said he feared any of his guests falling ill from Covid after attending the party, and so decided to cancel the event.
Disarray: Jonathan Ross, 60, revealed during an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday his show has been thrown into chaos as half his guests cancelled after catching Covid
Jonathan said: ‘I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be over yet and it does look like the figures are creeping up again. So I really am conscious that I don’t want to be part of any super-spreading event.
‘We always have a couple of hundred people to the party and as you know, about half of them are from showbusiness.’
‘So if there was a breakout would wipe out half the shows on TV, so we don’t want that, we wouldn’t want to be a superspreader event.’
In previous years Jonathan’s star-studded Halloween party has seen some of the UK’s biggest stars in attendance, including Holly Willoughby, Nicole Scherzinger, Alan Carr and Joan Collins.
On hold: The star has also cancelled his private annual star-studded Halloween party as he didn’t want to create a ‘superspreader event’
Jonathan added that his daughter had recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia after it was initially thought she had Long Covid and Jonathan didn’t want to disturb her at home during the party.
The star said: ‘My daughter, we thought she had Long Covid but discovered that she had fibromyalgia, so we want to be conscious of that and not have so much noise when she’s upstairs.’
‘She’s upstairs in the bedroom and I thought, ‘I can’t in good conscience have a big loud fun party downstairs and one of my children is locked in a room upstairs’.
‘It would be like something out of a horror novel.’
‘So really, just out of a good conscience, we’re not going to do it, but hopefully next year we’ll be back.’
Jonathan has three children with his wife Jane Goldman, Betty, 30, Harvey, 27, and Honey, 24.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition defined by widespread pain and fatigue, which effects up to 2.7 per cent of people worldwide, with three women suffering for every one man, studies suggest.
It is often triggered by a trauma, such as a car accident or childbirth, as well as infections, but why this occurs is unclear.
It comes as Jonathan’s self-titled talk show has also been thrown into chaos, because half of his guests have been forced to cancel their appearances after testing positive for Covid.
The comedian had Strictly Come Dancing’s Judi Love, 41, and singer Ed Sheeran, 30, booked to appear this week but both stars are now isolating due to coronavirus.
During an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, Jonathan explained: ‘Covid is still a bit of a nightmare for us. Having an audience back is great, it’s a lovely feeling to be able to connect. But we had four guests booked this week and we’ve had half cancelled because of Covid.
‘We had Judi Love booked and Ed Sheeran but they’ve both gone down with Covid.
‘Ed is going to be on Zoom, Judi is later going to be on the series, we had to shuffle things up and move some guests around.’
Along with filming his talk show, Jonathan also confirmed that he’ll be back to work filming the third series of The Masked Singer in the coming weeks.
Ed had previously taken to Instagram to reveal he’d tested positive for Covid, and had decided to cancel all in-person appearances and events.
The singer released a statement saying he is currently self-isolating and will do as many virtual interviews and performances as he can.
Drama: It comes as Jonathan’s show has been thrown into chaos, because half of his guests, including Judi Love have been forced to cancel appearances after testing positive for Covid
All stars: Ed Sheeran, 30, was also due to appear, with Jonathan explaining: ‘Ed is going to be on Zoom, Judi is later going to be on the series, we had to shuffle things up’
He wrote: ‘Hey guys. Quick note to tell you that I’ve sadly tested positive for Covid, so I’m now self-isolating and following government guidelines.
‘It means that I’m now unable to plough ahead with any in person commitments for now, so I’ll be doing as many of my planned interviews/performances I can from my house. Apologies to anyone I’ve let down. Be safe everyone x’.
Ed was also scheduled to join Apple Music’s Zane Lowe for an interview next week along with sharing some new songs from his upcoming fourth album.
His new record = (prounounced ‘equals’) will be released on Friday October 29.
Anticipated: Along with filming his talk show, Jonathan also confirmed that he’ll be back to work filming the third series of The Masked Singer in the coming weeks