Ellen DeGeneres said she wanted to applaud her audience instead of the other way around during her first show from home amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“Hi everyone. Thanks for not being here,” DeGeneres joked from her living room “because it has the best light and sound and because all the rooms in my house are filled with toilet paper,” in a clip she posted on Instagram Monday.
“This is crazy, I wasn’t supposed to be doing my show from my house until next season,” she added. (RELATED: REPORT: Coachella Potentially Rescheduled To October Due To Coronavirus Fears)
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DeGeneres continued, “Today I applaud you. Usually I walk out and people applaud me, but today I’m applauding you — nurses, doctors, hospital staff, first responders, supermarket employees, truck drivers, everyone who keeps us going, thank you so much.”(RELATED: Here’s A List Of How Every Country In The World Is Responding To Coronavirus)
The talk show host then explained that she wanted to start doing her show as soon as possible because “it’s really for people stuck at home, especially my staff and crew.”
“I’ve always wanted to have this show as a distraction, as a break for whatever’s going on out there that may be unpleasant, so if you’re feeling down I want to lift you up, if you’re feeling trapped I want to set you free, if you feel like you’re going in the wrong direction, I want you to back that thing up,” Ellen shared. “It is a strange time, and this is what we have to do right now.”
“I want to spread light where there’s shade, I want to bring a glow where it’s gloomy, I want to stick a candle where the sun doesn’t shine,” she added. “Hmm, I don’t know about that one.”
It’s the first new show since production on her program was halted on March 13 due to the pandemic, per Deadline.