Ellen DeGeneres discussed her bout with COVID-19 for Wednesday’s episode of her talk show, the first since she took a break after catching the virus last month.
During the opening monologue of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” the funny lady, who last year also battled allegations of a toxic workplace environment, spoke openly about the disease.
The “Finding Nemo” star, 62, told her virtual audience in a clip of the monologue that she told her brother she did fine with the illness save for “really bad back pain.”
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“And he said, ‘A friend of mine had COVID and he had back pain.’ Then I talked to several other people who said, oh, they had back pain. So now, apparently, back pain is a symptom of COVID, which I did not know,” said the talk show host.
“I’m not saying if you have back pain, you have COVID. But, it is a symptom. That’s the only symptom I had. I didn’t have a headache, I didn’t have fever, I didn’t lose my sense of taste — although I did wear Crocs with socks for a day, so you be the judge,” she joked.
DeGeneres noted she “slept for 16 hours a day” in the first three days of the illness, before she woke up with back pain, in the form of spasms, which were not helped by pain pills nor muscle relaxers.
Now doing better, the “Finding Dory” star said she’s still unsure how she contracted the virus wreaking havoc worldwide.
“I wear a mask, I wash my hands. I only lick three or four handles,” she quipped. “So it’s a mystery to me, how that would happen. Anyway, I know a lot of people out there are struggling with this illness right now, my heart goes out to all of them.”
The daytime talk show was “paused” last month following its host’s diagnosis.
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