Ellen DeGeneres has returned with a new season of The Ellen Show, albeit differently than she'd intended - filming alone from her living room.
"Hi everyone, thanks for not being here,'' she joked. "This is crazy, I wasn't supposed to be doing my show from my house until next season."
The iconic talk show host said she wanted to get started with her new show "as soon as possible" for people stuck at home, including her own staff and crew.
"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," she said.
With her wife Portia De Rossi taking on the roles of cameraperson and director, DeGeneres said she has always wanted her show to act as a "break for whatever's going on out there that may be unpleasant".
"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,'' she said.
"It is a strange time, and this is what we have to do right now."
The first celebrity guests to feature on the revised Ellen Show format were celebrity power couple Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, who called the coronavirus lockdown a "surreal experience" for their family.
