Ellen DeGeneres left viewers puzzled after appearing on The Graham Norton Show on Friday, with many questioning why she had been invited onto the programme after spending so long away from the public eye.
The 68-year-old comedian was once the host of her hugely popular self-titled talk show, but stepped back from television after the programme was cancelled in 2022 following allegations of bullying.
During her conversation with Graham Norton, DeGeneres spoke openly about her extended absence from television. She admitted that she missed being on screen, while revealing that she currently has no new project in the works.
DeGeneres announced the end of her talk show in 2021, following an internal investigation into claims of bullying and misconduct in the workplace.
Since leaving the spotlight, she has been based in the Cotswolds with her wife, Portia de Rossi.
Discussing her time away, DeGeneres said: “I’ve got nothing really going on and I really miss being on TV. I miss so much about it — laughing with the writers and the audience. I think about doing something here.”
Ellen DeGeneres’s appearance on The Graham Norton Show surprised viewers, who questioned why she had been invited onto the sofa after years away from the spotlight
She joked: “I think it’s pretty easy to get on TV here — there’s a pottery show, a sewing show, and even a programme about people watching TV shows!”
The comedian also looked back on her self-titled sitcom, which made television history by featuring the first openly gay lead character on a US series.
“In the US, they weren’t very thrilled about my character or me coming out, so to have it celebrated in London was such an honour,” she said. “To be treated that way when everyone else was done with me was extraordinary.”
Because DeGeneres did not appear to be promoting a forthcoming project — usually the main reason guests visit The Graham Norton Show — her appearance left many viewers confused.
One viewer wrote: “Why does it look so awkward that Ellen DeGeneres is on The Graham Norton Show?”
Another commented: “Ellen not clapping and sitting so ominously in the corner… evil beaming through the screen. Why is Ellen DeGeneres on Graham Norton?”
DeGeneres experienced a significant public backlash after former employees of The Ellen DeGeneres Show accused the programme of fostering a toxic workplace, with claims involving racism, bullying and sexual harassment.
For nearly 20 years, DeGeneres ended each episode of her daytime talk show with a smile and the familiar reminder to “be kind to one another”.
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Ellen DeGeneres appeared on Graham Norton alongside Quentin Tarantino, Colin Farrell and Gemma Chan
With no apparent new project to promote, viewers questioned why Ellen DeGeneres had been booked for an appearance on The Graham Norton Show
However, former staff members claimed that the presenter did not always follow that message of kindness away from the cameras.
Sources close to DeGeneres told the Daily Mail that she ran her household like a boot camp, allegedly “laying traps” for workers and “always choosing the opposite” of kindness in her dealings with staff.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show remained on air after the 2020 controversy, but declining ratings and the findings of a company investigation eventually contributed to its cancellation. The programme filmed its final episode in 2022 after 19 seasons.
She previously told The Hollywood Reporter: ‘I have to just trust that whatever happened during that time, which was obviously very, very difficult, happened for a reason.
‘I think that I learned a lot, and there were some things that came up that I was shocked and surprised by. It was eye-opening, but I just trust that that had to happen.’
Ellen and her wife Portia left the United States after Trump’s re-election as 47th president in November 2024.
Both she and de Rossi originally moved into an $18million house in The Cotswolds area, but the six-bedroom home was met with severe flooding due to Storm Bert.
An insider previously informed the Daily Mail: ‘Ellen and Portia have had several issues with the place they initially moved into.
‘First there was the flooding, of course, then there was an issue with some locals complaining about some building work carried out at the property.’
Ellen and Portia then moved to a different property which is only a 30-minute drive from the original home that they had bought.
However, an insider told The Mail on Sunday late last year that there is a possibility the couple could move back to the US, despite Trump still being in office.
And it was later revealed that Ellen and Portia purchased a $27million Montecito property last year in November.