All good things must come to an end. After eighteen seasons, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres (Finding Dory) has announced that The Ellen DeGeneres Show is coming to an end. Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, she revealed that the upcoming nineteenth season would be its last.
Speaking directly to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Wednesday, DeGeneres explained her reasoning for ending the show: “When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged — and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore.”
On air since 2003 on NBC, DeGeneres has conducted a whopping 2,400 celebrity interviews over the course of more than 3000 episodes. Before becoming a talk show host, DeGeneres was a stand-up comedian and had her own sitcom, Ellen, on ABC. In 2018, she starred in her first stand-up special since 2003, Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable, which was released on Netflix.
Within the past year, DeGeneres has been involved in controversy as allegations came to light in a Buzzfeed Article, with various workers alleging that The Ellen DeGeneres Show had hostile work environment. The article resulted in an investigation and various executives on the show were dismissed. DeGeneres addressed the issue head on in the first episode of season eighteen apologizing to those who were impacted by the alleged toxic work environment.
But, speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, DeGeneres said the toxic workplace allegations had nothing to do with the upcoming season being the show’s last: “It almost impacted the show. It was very hurtful to me. I mean, very. But if I was quitting the show because of that, I wouldn’t have come back this season. So, it’s not why I’m stopping but it was hard because I was sitting at home, it was summer, and I see a story that people have to chew gum before they talk to me and I’m like, “Okay, this is hilarious.” Then I see another story of some other ridiculous thing and then it just didn’t stop…”
DeGeneres went on to further explain to The Hollywood Reporter that the end of the show had been in sight for a while now, and she was just waiting for the right moment: “I was going to stop after season 16. That was going to be my last season, and they wanted to sign for four more years and I said I’d sign for maybe for one. They were saying there was no way to sign for one. “We can’t do that with the affiliates and the stations need more of a commitment.” So, we [settled] on three more years and I knew that would be my last. That’s been the plan all along. And everybody kept saying, even when I signed, “You know, that’s going to be 19, don’t you want to just go to 20? It’s a good number.” So is 19.”
DeGeneres will sit down with none other than legendary talk show host Oprah Winfrey on her May 13 show to discuss the series ending. Looking forward to the episode and what they’ll discuss, DeGeneres told The Hollywood Reporter, “…So, I don’t look at this as the end at all. It’s the start of a new chapter and hopefully my fans will go with me wherever I go. That being said, if I never do anything else ever again, I’m so proud of what this show stood for and still stands for and what we’ve made it through.”
The Ellen DeGeneres Show has won 61 Daytime Emmy Awards from its 171 Daytime Emmy nominations. DeGeneres was also a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom under Barack Obama in 2016. The Ellen DeGeneres Show been celebrated for its uplifting messages, encouragement of kindness, and of course, for its dancing.