Rachel Maddow said in a Tuesday interview that she’ll “never be the same” after her longtime partner, Susan Mikula, battled COVID-19 last fall.
“She got really sick and it was absolutely terrifying,” Maddow recounted in a chat with Ellen DeGeneres. “I actually haven’t gotten it; I’ve been negative the whole time. We got her tested really soon after she got exposed. Thank God we had access to testing and could do that. Then, we separated, but that was a mixed blessing: One, I didn’t get it, which was amazing, but on the other hand, she was really suffering and I was trying to take care of her from afar without being able to physically be with her.”
Maddow detailed how Mikula got “sicker and sicker” while all she could do was FaceTime her.
“It was really, really scary. I feel like I’ll never be the same again, having been through that scare. I’m lucky I have the world’s greatest relationship and I am totally in love and she’s the most important thing in my life and to feel like her life was one the line, I will never be the same person,” Maddow said. “It was so scary.”
DeGeneres shared that she, too, had COVID-19, but never felt nearly as ill as Mikula did, highlighting the different ways the virus affects people. She asked Maddow how her partner of over two decades is doing now.
“She’s good,” Maddow said, but she pointed out that though Mikula is technically recovered, some symptoms are recurring “in an unpredictable way.”
Maddow first revealed her partner’s diagnosis in November 2020, urging viewers of her show to take into consideration how easily they could contract or spread the virus.
Watch Maddow’s interview, where she also discusses how the Trump administration blocked Dr. Anthony Fauci from appearing on her show, above.
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