Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand opens up over ‘crazy’ health scare after hospital visit

The iconic ex-England defender was fearing the worst.

May 12, 2025 - 20:19
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Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand opens up over ‘crazy’ health scare after hospital visit
Nottingham Forest FC v Manchester United FC - Premier League
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand was taken to hospital with a ‘mad virus’ (Picture: Getty)

Rio Ferdinand has spoken for the first time about his ‘crazy’ health scare earlier this month, revealing that he ‘didn’t know where he was’ as he was admitted to hospital with a ‘mad virus’.

The former Manchester United and England star had been preparing to cover Arsenal’s clash with PSG for TNT Sports last week, but was struck down with a sudden illness ahead of the Champions League semi-final second leg.

Just hours before kick-off, a ‘gutted’ Ferdinand shared a selfie from his hospital bed confirming that he could not provide punditry for the match – but would instead be keeping an eye on proceedings on his iPad.

Ferdinand was flooded with messages of love and support from across the footballing community and beyond, with fans expressing their concern for the 46-year-old, widely considered to be one of English football’s greatest ever defenders.

In the intervening days, has been as active as ever on his social media pages, celebrating United’s progression to the Europa League final and condemning those Liverpool supporters who booed Trent Alexander-Arnold.

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But on the latest episode of Rio Ferdinand Presents, the six-time Premier League winner opened up for the first time about his scary ordeal, which, at times, had him fearing the worst.

At first, though, Ferdinand played down the health scare, joking: ‘My wife, the women in my family, will never know… man flu. That’s what it’s really about, man flu.’