Ellen Degeneres Takes The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Live On Her Show And Challenges Kim Kardashian To Do The Same

Season 12 of "The Ellen Degeneres Show" premieres this week and the popular comedienne chose her opening show to accept her nominations for the viral ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Ellen not only accepted and did the challenge on the show but she also nominated one of her guests, reality TV star Kim Kardashian to do it on the show.

Ellen opened the show with a week-long season premiere where one of her first guests include Anthony Carbajal, who was one of the pioneers of the movement. Carbajal was recently diagnosed with the deadly ALS disease and his mother also suffers from it. He shared during the interview with Ellen that he and his mom are big fans and always turn the television on to watch "The Ellen Degeneres Show" to lift their spirits. Carbajal is a wedding photographer and spends most hours of his day taking care of his mother who is now in a more advanced stage of the disease.

Ellen accepted the challenge and called it an honour to be doing it for such a great cause. She and Carbajal stood together in the Ellen Degeneres studio and had themselves doused with icy water fully clothed. Ellen then proceeded to nominate Kim Kardashian and challenged her to do the challenge on the show. She also nominated Beyonce to take part in the challenge.

Carbajal's YouTube video [posted below] is longer than most acceptance videos posted by people who took part in the challenge mostly because he not only did the challenge, but he also shared his family's struggle with ALS. In the video which runs close to seven minutes, Carbajal starts out with a funny skit where he wears pink shorts and bikini top while pretending to wash a car. He gets himself all wet and playfully washes the car with his backside where the words "Kiss my ALS' were printed. He lays on top of the car's hood where he receives a bucketful of icy water. The video then shifts to a more sombre mood where Carbajal talks about his diagnosis at only 26 years old. He also shares that the disease runs in his family. His grandmother apparently died from the disease, his mother is now in the advanced stages and he had recently been diagnosed. The video also shows clips of him and his mother doing their daily routine. She is visibly unable to use her limbs and lift her own head. She is also unable to eat unaided. Carbajal explains that he needed to take the time to tell people more about the disease and show them what it means instead of just throwing a bucket of icy water over his head.

The video of Ellen and Carbajal doing the challenge was posted on the show's official Instagram site. The second day of the week long premiere will air today and features an appearance by Kim Kardashian whom Ellen nominated and took the challenge on the show as well.

source: YouTube/Anthony Carbajal