Idris Elba feared it ''could be the end'' when he contracted coronavirus.

Both the 47-year-old actor and his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba, 31, contracted COVID-19 in April and the couple admitted it was a very ''scary'' time.

Sabrina said: ''At the time we got sick, the media was pushing hard on how dangerous it was. At one point, Idris really thought this could be the end. He has asthma. He is older. It was scary.''

But after coming through the potentially life-threatening respiratory illness, Sabrina has a ''new lease of life'' and is more appreciative of everything she has.

In an interview in Grazia magazine, she added: ''That kind of un-sureness about what's coming next leaves you with a bit of anxiety. But having been sick and being OK now also gives you this new lease of life; I want to be super-appreciative of everything.''

Meanwhile, Idris previously admitted the ''mental impact'' of COVID-19 was ''pretty traumatic'' on him and Sabrina.

He explained: ''I was asymptomatic so I didn't get the major symptoms everyone else got. Mentally, it hit me very bad, because a lot was unknown about it.

''I felt very compelled to speak about it, just because it was such an unknown. So the mental impact of that on both myself and my wife was pretty traumatic.''

The former star of 'The Wire' added that he was grateful for lockdown because it gave him the time to recover from the virus.

He admitted: ''I needed the lockdown to try to get over it. And it turns out the world actually probably needed the lockdown, too.''

Idris has said it felt the right thing to do to share his diagnosis as it ''opened up a lot of conversation around it''.

He said: ''My wife and I felt like it was the right thing to do, to share it with you guys. Right now though, I am feeling okay. Woke up this morning, didn't have any symptoms. My voice is a little tired ... checking my fever twice a day. Feel good, feel OK. Been doing a lot of reading about it. You know, asymptomatic is what comes up.''