Ellen DeGeneres was planning to do “12 Days of Giveaways” in December 2020 leading up to a break from her show over the holidays. That break came earlier than originally planned.
After filming 11 days of giveaways, DeGeneres had to abruptly stop filming the show. She was preparing to film the 12th episode of the giveaway series when she found out she had tested positive for COVID-19.
After realizing she had COVID-19, producers immediately decided to stop production of the show until 2021. DeGeneres announced the news about her COVID test on social media and went home to self-quarantine.
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) December 10, 2020
Now that it’s 2021, The Ellen DeGeneres Show is back in production, and even though the holidays are over, the show wrapped up the 12 days of giveaways with the first show of 2021. They brought back the same studio audience that would’ve been at the show in December if filming had not stopped. It’s important to note that it is a virtual audience, and no audience members are actually in the studio.
During her opening monologue of the show, DeGeneres discussed her experience with COVID-19 and inserted jokes along the way. She started by saying, “Obviously there are a lot of negative things going on, so instead I’m going to talk about something positive: my COVID test.”
DeGeneres went on to explain how she found out she had tested positive. She was preparing for the show when her assistant told her the news. She said, “Everyone around me ran away. It’s funny, people just really get scared, and they ran. Some have not come back since.”
After DeGeneres went home, exhaustion kicked in. For the first three days, she mainly slept. When the exhaustion subsided, it was replaced with back pain. She described the back pain saying, “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 when I make you laugh.”
DeGeneres considers herself lucky that exhaustion and back pain were the only symptoms she had of COVID-19. She has made a full recovery. Watch the video below to learn more about DeGeneres’s experience with COVID-19.
Did you know that back pain was a symptom of COVID-19? Do you know anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19? If so, what symptoms did they have?