Ellen DeGeneres is "starting a new chapter" with her talk show as it returned from its summer break on Monday (21.09.20)

Speaking in a monologue at the start of her show, she said: "All right, let's get to it. As you may have heard, this summer there were allegations of a toxic work environment at our show. And then there was an investigation. I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously, and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected. I know that I am in a position of privilege and power and I realise that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility at what happens at my show. This is The Ellen DeGeneres show. I am Ellen DeGeneres. We have had a lot of conversations over the last few weeks about the show, our workplace and what we want for the future. We have made the necessary changes and today, we are starting a new chapter."

And Ellen admitted she was "looking forward to addressing it all directly" as she hadn't been able to due to COVID-19.

She added: "Oh boy, welcome to the Season 18 of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. If you're watching because you love me, thank you. If you're watching because you don't love me, welcome. How was everybody's summer? Good? Mine was great. Super terrific. I'm so happy to be back in the studio - there are a lot of things I want to talk about. I've been looking forward to addressing it all directly. Unfortunately talking directly to people had been illegal for six months, so I have a virtual audience here instead."