Actor Hugh Grant has revealed how desperate he became after losing his sense of smell due to coronavirus.

The 60 year-old said he started to smell ‘garbage cans’ and even considered sniffing strangers’ armpits.

Speaking to Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, he said: "It started as just a very strange syndrome where I kept breaking into a terrible sweat. It was like a poncho of sweat, embarrassing really.”

He added: "I thought, I don't know what this is. Then I was walking down the street one day and I thought I can't smell a damn thing and you start to panic.

"I started sniffing flowers, nothing.

“And you get more and more desperate. I started sniffing in garbage cans. You know, you want to sniff strangers' armpits because you just can't smell anything.

“I eventually went home and I sprayed my wife's Chanel No. 5 directly into my face. Couldn't smell a thing, but I did go blind.”

Grant’s wife, Swedish TV producer Anna Eberstein, also had coronavirus.