Ellen DeGeneres Spotted Car Shopping After COVID-19 Recovery

Just nine days after Ellen DeGeneres revealed she had tested positive for COVID-19, the daytime talk show host was spotted out and about shopping for cars in Montecito Saturday in photos obtained by The Daily Mail. The Ellen DeGeneres Show host appeared to have purchased a classic car just in time for the holidays, browsing at Montecito Customs before walking away with a red bow from the hood of one of the vehicles.

DeGeneres was wearing a mask for most of her trip but removed her mask temporarily while other people were not around, raising eyebrows due to her COVID diagnosis. “I feel great,” DeGeneres says in a video filmed by paparazzi. “It’s different for everybody, and I got very, very lucky. So I’m very, very blessed and very grateful that I was able to get past it.”

Tuesday afternoon, a representative for the star told the Los Angeles Times that the comedian had completed her quarantining before leaving her home over the weekend, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends COVID-19 patients only break isolation a minimum of 10 days after their symptoms appear, and only if their fever has been gone for at least 24 hours and they are generally feeling better.

DeGeneres revealed on Dec. 10 that she had contracted the coronavirus. “I want to let you all know that I tested positive for Covid-19,” DeGeneres wrote in a post to social media. “Fortunately, I’m feeling fine right now. Anyone who has been in close contact with me has been notified, and I am following all proper CDC guidelines. I’ll see you all again after the holidays. Please stay healthy and safe.”

Shortly before her shopping expedition, DeGeneres shared on Dec. 18 “a little update” on her health with friends, thanking her fans and friends for their love and support while playing games at home with her wife, Arrested Development actress Portia de Rossi. “I’m feeling 100%. I feel really good,” DeGeneres said in the video posted on her social media channels. “One thing they don’t tell you is you get somehow excruciating back pain. … Who knew? How come? Back pain — bad.”

It has been a challenging year for DeGeneres, whose show was under investigation over the summer after a damning report surfaced of her allegedly fostering a toxic workplace environment. Following the investigation, three top producers were fired from the show, and DeGeneres released a statement taking responsibility for the situation developing, saying that while it was outside of her knowledge at the time, she was in a “position of privilege and power” to stop it.