SYDNEY (AP) Ellen DeGeneres was applauded by a rapturous Aussie audience like a cherished part of the family as she introduced her Australian-born wife, Portia de Rossi, on a Sydney Harbour-side stage on Saturday to begin pre-recording Down Under segments for her popular U.S. TV show.
The Emmy Award-winning talk-show host arrived in Sydney with her mom, Betty DeGeneres, and de Rossi on Friday after a 14-hour flight from Los Angeles for a six-day filming trip to Australia.
"I'm moving here, it's so beautiful," DeGeneres told 3,000 admirers, who were clearly delighted to be in the sun-bathed Royal Botanic Gardens near the Sydney Opera House for the two-hour recording despite the 30-degree Celsius (86-degree Fahrenheit) early afternoon heat.
Guests included Oscar-winning actor and Sydney local Russell Crowe. He presented the 55-year-old host with two kangaroo-hide cattle whips that he said DeGeneres might need to catch "some brumbies" an Australian term for wild horses when she visits Australia's southeast. The pair took turns at whip cracking.
Asked by one emotional fan whether she and her wife would adopt her, DeGeneres replied, tongue-in-cheek: "We were just saying we should adopt someone. It's so easy for us."
The show was packed with games involving audience members, including an Australia-themed trivia event in which fans had to take a harbor plunge for a wrong answer.
"The Ellen DeGeneres Show" is in its 10th season. DeGeneres was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor last year.
