Ellen DeGeneres was all smiles as she returned to her self-titled talk show Wednesday, which she opened by detailing her battle with COVID-19.
Ellen DeGeneres Back To Show Tweet
She thanked for the well-wishes while she was recovering. Her show’s first episodes of 2021 were delayed by her diagnosis, which she announced via her show’s Instagram in December.
Ellen DeGeneres Covid IG Post
“I was getting ready to tape the show that you were going to be here for, and I was in hair and makeup, getting my face powdered and my extensions put in and then my assistant, Craig, walks in and says, ‘You’ve tested positive for COVID,'” the talk show host recalls. “And then everyone around me ran away. It’s funny, people just really get scared. Some have not come back since.”
DeGeneres also poked fun at her longtime producer, Andy Lassner or “Average Andy,” saying he was one of the first people out the door upon hearing about her diagnosis.
“I left the studio immediately and our COVID safety team informed everyone that I had been in contact with. They told Andy Lassner, and when he heard he literally ran at full speed off the lot, which is amazing, I didn’t realize that you could run, Andy. I thought it was just the slow walking,” she jokes.
DeGeneres went home, where she said she kept her distance from her wife, Portia de Rossi.
“I had to quarantine, and Portia made me sleep in a different room on a different bed because she wanted the race car bed all to herself,” she said.
“The first three days, I slept for 16 hours a day,” DeGeneres continued, recounting her symptoms. “And then on the fourth day, I woke up with back spasms. It just persisted and the doctor put me on pain pills and muscle relaxers.”
When those failed to provide relief, her physician put her on a course of steroids, which did the trick. “That’s the only symptom I had,” she said, describing her back pain as feeling like she cracked a rib. “You know how I make you laugh so hard that your ribs hurt? That’s what it was like for me. Now I know how you feel.”
“I didn’t have a headache, I didn’t have a fever, I didn’t lose my sense of taste. I started to feel better and I am very fortunate and very, very blessed,”. “I didn’t lose my sense of taste, although I did wear Crocs with socks for a day, so you be the judge.”
“The weird thing is I still don’t know where I got it,” she said. “I wear a mask, I washed my hands, I only licked three or four door handles, so it’s a mystery how that would happen. … I know a lot of people out there are struggling with this illness. My heart goes out to all of them.”
Many of the show’s recent guests had made virtual appearances, though a handful joined DeGeneres in the studio in December before she tested positive, including Leslie Odom, Jr. on Dec. 9, Bryan Cranston on Dec. 4, Diane Keaton on Dec. 3, Lil Nas X on Dec. 2, and Justin Bieber on Dec. 1.