Anderson Cooper went temporarily blind for the past 36 hours last week while on assignment for CBS' 60 Minutes in Portugal. Cooper relayed the experience on his daytime talk show Tuesday, with Christie Brinkley alongside him as guest co-host.
Cooper, 45, said he had no idea it was possible for sun exposure to cause blindness, which in his case lasted 36 hours.
"I am in this beautiful coastal area shooting this story for 60 Minutes involving the water -- I don't want to go into details [on] what the story was, but I am on the water for two hours shooting this story and it's an overcast day," says Cooper.
"I wake up in the middle of the night and it feels like my eyes are on fire," he said. "It turns out I have sunburned my eyeballs and I go blind. I went blind for 36 hours. I took this picture of me after I went to the hospital."
He then showed his audience his photo and joked, "That's my new Match.com profile picture, by the way."
Tune in to Tuesday's edition of "Anderson Live" for more -- including a visit by "Dancing with the Stars" contender Gilles Marini, who shows off some of his best dance moves with Brinkley.
"It's a reminder that frankly everyone needs sunglasses," Brinkley advised. And to Cooper, she added, "Fortunately for you you're going to be fine, but it's a real reminder."
