Fan tested for coronavirus after snapping selfie with Tom Hanks

Penny Burfitt
·Lifestyle & Entertainment Producer
Updated ·3-min read
Gold Coast man Frankie's selfie with Tom Hanks
Gold Coast man Frankie says he will be getting tested after an encounter with Tom Hanks. Photo: Instagram/frankiejaylee_

A fan is rethinking his delight at snapping a selfie with Tom Hanks after the star and wife Rita Wilson tested positive to Covid-19.

Gold Coast fan Frankie confirmed to Yahoo Lifestyle that a brief encounter with the star two weeks ago was enough to leave him concerned.

“I saw him two weeks ago and I will be getting tested,” he says.

Frankie snapped a photo with Hanks after he spotted the Oscar-winner on a Queensland beach in February.

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A post shared by Frankie Jay Lee (@frankiejaylee_) on

At the time the fan was ecstatic to breathe the same air as Tom – now he may be reconsidering his position.

“Day at the beach and got to meet @tomhanks proper legend too!” he captioned the photo.

He was so eager to share a moment with the star, he actually ran ahead and waited for a more deserted stretch of beach before approaching him.

“Clocked him early on my walk but didn’t want to catch him in front of so many people so ran ahead and he’s like, ‘I knew you got me’,” he wrote.

Tom and Rita confirm corona fears

US actor Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson arrive for the 92nd Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on February 9, 2020. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
US actor Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson are being treated for coronavirus in the Gold Coast, Australia. Photo: Getty Images

Tom and his wife Rita Wilson, both 63, were struck down by the virus while visiting the Gold Coast in Australia, with reports the pair are now in hospital.

Tom is the first celebrity confirmed to have the highly contagious virus that has snowballed into a global pandemic.

The couple confirmed the news with a statement on Wednesday.

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Hello, folks. Rita and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive. Well, now. What to do next? The Medical Officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks’ will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires. Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no? We’ll keep the world posted and updated. Take care of yourselves! Hanx!

A post shared by Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) on

“Hello, folks. Rita and I are down here in Australia,” Tom wrote on Instagram.

“We felt a bit tired like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive.

Well, now. What to do next? The Medical Officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks’ will be tested observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires. Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no?

We’ll keep the world posted and updated.

Take care of yourselves!”

The pair join more than 120 other cases confirmed in Australia as of Wednesday.

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