Gleb Savchenko Says He Felt Like He Was 'Dying' with COVID: 'I Called 911'

Emma McIntyre/Getty Gleb Savchenko

Gleb Savchenko revealed he contracted the delta variant of COVID-19 while unvaccinated.

"Three months ago I was unvaccinated and I got delta," the 37-year-old Dancing With the Stars pro said on AJ McLean and Cheryl Burke's Pretty Messed Up podcast on Monday.

Savchenko told the hosts he "never felt worse" in his life, "My heart was like 167 beats per minute. I fainted a couple of times. I called 911 twice."

"It was pretty bad," he said, explaining that he believes he got it on a flight back from Dallas, Texas after a work trip.

When the dad of two got home, he had two negative COVID tests before he finally got a positive on a third attempt.

Kevin Mazur/2021 MTV Movie and TV Awards/Getty Gleb Savchenko

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"I was dying. Literally dying. I felt like I couldn't breathe. It was just bad," Savchenko said. "I was home for two weeks. It was bad. It was the worst."

The DWTS pro told McLean, 43, and Burke, 37, that 10 days after he recovered from the highly contagious variant he got vaccinated.

"Everybody who's not vaccinated, go get vaccinated 'cause that sucks," he warned. "It sucks."

Savchenko also opened up about his fears going into the upcoming season of DWTS as a single dad to daughters Olivia, 11, and Zlata, 4, whom he shares with his estranged wife Elena Samodanova.

"We share custody 50/50, so a week with Elena, a week with me. I interviewed several babysitters, so literally, I'm just going to try to do it all," he said on the podcast. "I'm still going through this whole thing and it's super new to me."

The ballroom dancer admitted, "I'm scared as f–k, to be honest with you."

Cody Rigsby/Instagram Gleb Savchenko

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"I enjoy being with my girls. To me, I'm the best dad. I give them everything. I love, love, love being with them," he said, explaining that he's been trying to plan rehearsals with his DWTS partner around his children's school schedules and activities because he doesn't "want to miss out on the good stuff."

Savchenko will be a dance pro on season 30, premiering on Sept. 20.

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The cast includes The Talk co-host Amanda Kloots, Beverly Hills, 90210's Brian Austin Green, Bling Empire's Christine Chiu, Peleton instructor Cody Rigsby, former NBA player Iman Shumpert, country star Jimmie Allen, YouTube superstar JoJo Siwa, Real Housewives of Atlanta's Kenya Moore, Cobra Kai's Martin Kove, The Bachelor's Matt James, Spice Girls' Melanie C., The Office's Melora Hardin, WWE's Mike "The Miz" Mizanin, Olivia Jade, and Olympic gymnast Suni Lee, Good Morning America revealed on Wednesday.

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