Ellen Degeneres used her trademark humour to joke about being treated for chest pains at her studio on Monday. The comedian and television personality recounted her health scare in front of a live studio audience this week (26th September 2011), reports US Weekly Magazine.
The 53-year-old revealed she felt "tightness and heaviness" in her chest on Sunday, but waited until Monday to call paramedics who arrived at her Burbank studio in California. Ellen joked, "The paramedics were strippers that I had called. That's how the rumors got started", before adding, "I woke up in the middle of the night..feeling like something was heavy on my chest and it was a cat, so I moved it. I still felt the tightness and heaviness, so there was another cat under that cat. There were two cats on my chest". Despite her jokes, DeGeneres insisted she had a deep appreciation for the medical team who arrived to treat her, saying, "I want to say thank you to all the paramedics and the nurses who showed up...I appreciate it".
DeGeneres, who spent one year as a judge on American Idol, has won thirteen Emmy Awards for her television output and numerous honours for her charity work. In 2007, Forbes estimated the comedienne's net worth at $65 million.