Ellen DeGeneres says goodbye to daytime talk show

After 19 seasons , a teary Ellen DeGeneres has been joined by Pink and Jennifer Aniston as she farewelled her beloved talk show - and confessed to something she was banned from saying on air.

An emotional Ellen DeGeneres has been serenaded by Pink and joined by Jennifer Aniston and Billie Eilish on the very last episode of her eponymous talk show.

The star bade farewell to her long-running talk show after 19 dance-filled seasons on Thursday local time in the US.

Before walking out onto the stage, a montage was shown of every entrance DeGeneres had made at the start of every one of those 19 seasons.

When she did appear, a teary DeGeneres put her hand on her heart as she received a standing ovation from the audience, which was filled with friends and family, including Geelong-born wife, Portia de Rossi, and the star’s brother Vance DeGeneres.

“Welcome to our very last show. I walked out here 19 years ago and I said this is the start of a relationship. And today is not the end of a relationship, it’s more of a little break,” DeGeneres told the crowd.

“You can see other talk shows now. I may see another audience once in a while. Twenty years ago when we tried to sell this show no one thought this would work, not because it was a different kind of show. It was because I was different. Very few stations wanted to buy the show and here we are 20 years later, celebrating this amazing journey together.”

The LGBTQ icon also reflected about how far society – and television – has come, particularly in regard to gay issues.

“When we started this show I couldn’t say ‘gay’ on the show. I was not allowed to say ‘gay.’ I said it at home a lot. ‘What are we having for our gay breakfast?’ Or ‘pass the gay salt.’ [Or] ‘Has anyone seen the gay remote?’ — things like that,” she continued.

My final monologue.❤️ #EllensFinalSeasonpic.twitter.com/CrnW72klYV

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) May 26, 2022

“I couldn’t say we, because that implied that I was with someone. Sure I couldn’t say wife, that’s because it wasn’t legal for gay people to get married. And now I say wife all the time. Twenty five years ago they cancelled my sitcom because they didn’t want a lesbian to be in prime time once a week. So I said ‘OK, I’ll be in daytime every day, how ’bout that?’ ”

DeGeneres’ final guest was, aptly, good friend Jennifer Aniston who was her first guest way back in 2004.

DeGeneres asked Aniston how she coped with the end of Friends. “I got a divorce and went into therapy,” the star said.

“I did a movie called The Break-up. I kind of leaned into the end.”

Aniston then introduced a farewell video package that featured moments like when Oprah Winfrey told DeGeneres “You make everybody feel better” and President Barack Obama giving the comedienne the Medal of Freedom in 2016.

The talk show host’s longtime friend, Pink, performed an emotional rendition of What About Us, which is reportedly one of DeGeneres’ favourite songs.

“I love you so much it’s dumb,” a sobbing Pink told DeGeneres. “You help people find joy.”

The final studio audience also got to witness a tribute segment about DeGeneres’ legacy, most notably as a gay icon, that reportedly “had the entire place crying.”

The final episode. Tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/E3yKaLzHTd

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) May 26, 2022

In her remaining weeks after nearly two decades on air, she’s welcomed some final face time with a procession of A-list guests including Oprah Winfrey, Justin Timberlake, Kate McKinnon, Michelle Obama, and Sean “Diddy” Combs, among others.

But a show source told the New York Post that the tears have been “happy” ones untinged by bitterness or regret, despite the heavy cloud hanging over her since allegations of a “toxic” work environment first cast a pall over her “be kind” brand.

In 2020, DeGeneres faced a string of negative workplace allegations, for which she subsequently apologised yet nonetheless led to a shuffling of upper-level producers for the show’s 18th season.

“Her mood during the last two weeks was very crying, but a happy cry,” the source reportedly said. “All her crying was nothing but gratitude for what we had accomplished together. The sadness was that she wasn’t going to get to see her staff every day.”

The feeling is reportedly mutual since the final show was taped a month ago.

“The entire staff has been texting with her,” the source added. “Everyone misses her.”

Although Winfrey urged DeGeneres to “take a break”, insiders say that’s unlikely.

“If you know Ellen, she’ll be back and she’ll be back in a big way,” an insider said.

DeGeneres ended the show by thanking her longtime executive producers Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner and sharing how she hoped, “I’ve inspired you to make other people happy and to do good in the world.”

“I feel the love and I send it back to you,” she said.

“What a beautiful, beautiful journey that we have been together,” DeGeneres said. “If this show has made you smile, if it has lifted you up when you’re in a period of some type of pain, some type of sadness, anything you are going through, then I have done my job. Because of this platform we have been able to change people’s lives. This show has forever changed my life. It is the greatest experience I have ever had, beyond my wildest imagination.”

DeGeneres then ended the show the way it began 19 years ago — sitting on a couch, with her back to the audience, watching herself on TV.

– with the New York Post