What are celebrities doing in self-isolation? From Ellen DeGeneres to Akshay Kumar

Stars around the world have been giving fans an insight into their self-isolation daily routines

Stars including Liam Gallagher, Steve Martin and Deepika Padukone have been giving fans an insight into their self-isolation life. 

Stars including Liam Gallagher, Steve Martin and Deepika Padukone have been giving fans an insight into their self-isolation life. 

Farah Andrews author image
Farah Andrews
Mar 24, 2020
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Celebrities ... they're self-isolating just like you amid the coronavirus pandemic. From home concerts, to to-do-list tasks and quick Covid-19 PSAs, here is what a few of Hollywood's finest have been doing as the world takes to social distancing:

Sir Patrick Stewart reading Shakespeare 

Veteran actor Sir Patrick Stewart is trying to soothe fans with some words from the Bard. He will be reading a sonnet a day to fans, and so far has read Shakespeare's Sonnet 116, Sonnet 1 and Sonnet 2.

"I was delighted by the response to my posting of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116, the actor wrote on Instagram.

"It has led me to undertake what follows. When I was a child in the 1940s, my mother would cut up slices of fruit for me (there wasn't much) and as she put it in front of me she would say: 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away.' How about, 'A sonnet a day keeps the doctor away'? So ... here we go: Sonnet 1."

Josh Gad's book club

The Frozen star is a kids' favourite, having played snowman Olaf in the animated adventure. During lockdowns around the world, the actor is offering parents a helping hand by reading a children's book every night in the #GadBookClub. He goes live with his club each night on Instagram and Twitter at 7.30pm EST, (3.30am in the UAE). Luckily you can catch up on Twitter at a more appropriate bedtime for little ones as he is saving them on his social media page.

One of the books he has read so far is The Pea Patch Jig by Thacher Hurd.

Deepika Padukone is being productive

Deepika Padukone has started a 'Productivity in the time of Covid-19' series on her Instagram, which, essentially, is just a series of photos of the actress doing fairly classic daily jobs, like face rolling, eating and drinking fruit, hitting the treadmill and eating an indulgent dessert.

Face masks with Jessica Alba

Honey actress Jessica Alba has been practicing self-care with her daughters. The mother-of-three posted a video with her two daughters, Honor, 11, and Haven, 8, along with the caption: "I stay home for my three babies, hubby and all my family members - especially my grandparents."

Steve Martin on the banjo

Father of the Bride star Steve Martin has provided followers with the smooth tunes of his banjo, while self-isolating from a forest.

Naturally, fans love it.

"That’s all I need. I don’t need anything else," wrote one of Martin's Twitter followers. Another added: "You're just such a little ray of sunshine."

Oprah and Michelle Obama partying on a virtual night out

Oprah, Jennifer Lopez and Michelle Obama were three of the attendees at D-Nice's social distancing dance party on March 22.

The American DJ organised Homeschool, a quarantine night club, writing of the event: "I never would’ve imagined that the best party I would create and DJ would be from the comfort of my own home. Homeschool is a thing! Yesterday was absolutely insane. The amount of artists and friends that virtually partied with me far exceeded my expectations. I’m feeling nothing but gratitude."

He had over 100,000 attendees, and listed a few of the famous names on Instagram, including Drake, Naomi Campbell, H.E.R., Mary J. Blige, DJ Khaled, T.I., Kelly Rowland, Common, Lance Gross, Queen Latifah, Swizz Beatz and Vanessa Williams.

Oprah tweeted that it was the "best party of 1 and 100k I ever been to".

Model Naomi Campbell also Instagrammed the event, scroll through to see:

Ellen 'Do It' DeGeneres

The talk show host has been very busy in isolation. A flick through her Instagram feed is well worth it. She has been FaceTiming famous friends, including John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Adam Levine and Tiffany Haddish to hilarious effect, working on impossible puzzles and photoshopping herself into news stories with some impressive fake piano skills.

Most relatable, perhaps, is the TV star trying her hand at some Lego Architecture of the Guggenheim Museum, which she admits is “little trickier than [she] thought.” Lego chimed in with some Instagram advice, saying: “Try sorting by colour and size before you dive in! You got this Ellen and we’re always here for tips!”

Sam Neill’s to-do list

Jurassic Park star Sam Neill has been ticking off the odd useful job, while self-isolating. One such job is washing his shoes. He admits that he won't be going far in them anytime soon, opting for a slipper at the moment, but adds: "Boy, do they smell good!"

He’s also been keeping the content pure with love poems, ukulele renditions and teaching himself random facts, like how to land a falling jet with an encyclopedia.

Liam Gallagher is washing his hands

If the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it's that few of us were washing our hands enough, or for long enough, before the outbreak. A great way to make sure you're doing it for the recommended amount of time – 20 seconds – is to sing a song. Happy Birthday twice is a popular go-to.

Oasis's Liam Gallagher is also here to help. Over on his Twitter he's been adapting the band's songs with soapy puns, think Champange Soapernova, Soapersonic and Wanderwash. 

Liam Gallagher has provided fans with a soundtrack to handwashing. Twitter 

Liam Gallagher has provided fans with a soundtrack to handwashing. Twitter 

Now, most of the videos have a few too many four-letter words in the videos, but you can click though at your own risk here.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s petting zoo

The Terminator actor and Former Governor of California has been playing smart and staying in, with his adorable animals, Whiskey and Lulu, inside his house.

He posted his first video with the on March 16, and they have been coming almost daily since then.

"See that's what we do, we don't go out, we don't go to restaurants, we don't do anything like that anymore here," he says. "We just eat with Whisky and with Lulu, we have a good time."

They have also shared salad at lunchtime:

John Legend’s live home concert

The All of Me singer took requests during an Instagram live concert that lasted more than 53 minutes, and can be caught up with here:

In the true spirit of working from home, he is in his pyjamas, and there are cameos from wife Chrissy Teigen and their kids.

A follow up will be coming from Miguel, check here for more:

Judi Dench’s stress management

A quick PSA was posted by Dame Judi Dench’s daughter Finty Williams on Twitter.

“Just keep laughing,” she says, in truly British style, “It’s all we can do”.

Since then, performer Jade Anouka has pulled together her creative collective to recite some Shakespeare, with Dench naturally involved:

Akshay Kumar's isolation competition 

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar is urging fans to stay at home.

He has been posting about social distancing, turning in into a competition, with the winner "staying put".

Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern’s safe space walk

"Friendship with social distancing," Big Little Lies star Reese Witherspoon captioned this snap of a walk at a safe distance away from her co-star Laura Dern.

She was sure to clarify that the walk was "a few days ago ... before we were told to #stayhome [in California]".

The TikTokers

Is there a celebrity that hasn’t joined TikTok to dance for and then re-post to Instagram or Twitter? No, I didn’t think so.

A few favourites are Justin and Hailey Bieber, Ciara and family and Little Mix's Perrie Edwards, and they all get a special mention.

The winner, however, is probably Ashley Tisdale with her feel-good High School Musical throwback:

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