Ellen Addresses Rumors That Her Talk Show Could End Soon

Rumors that Ellen Degeneres would be leaving TV behind have been swirling for awhile, but the talk show host has finally said she doesn’t feel like that will be happening soon.

“I’ll know when it’s the end,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “I’ll know when I feel it. And I don’t feel that right now, so we’ll see how long I go.”

The Ellen Degeneres Show has been on air since 2003, and will celebrate its 16th birthday later this year.

“Everybody warned me that it’s a different thing than being in a sitcom or being an actor, because people know as a character or they see you once a week [on a sitcom]. But when you’re on TV every single day, you’re in their living room and they think they know you,” she said of the shift away from her sitcom life.

And though her show seems to have been a permanent shift away from acting for the most part, she has been exploring other avenues for creative expression lately.

Last year marked Ellen’s return to stand-up comedy for the first time in over a decade with her Netflix special Relatable. The return to her roots seems to be something Ellen is interested in continuing, but it may have to wait until her talk show finally does come to an end.

“Unfortunately, I just don’t have the time because I do the show five days a week and I’m tired on the weekend,” she said. “I’ll do it again for sure, because I loved it. It’s something that, even though I thought I would never do it again, I think for sure I’ll do it again.”

And when that time comes? When The Ellen Degeneres Show finally comes to an end?

“I’m happy to step back [from the stage] when I’m done. I’ll be happy to just be doing my brand and doing production,” she said. “I think then you’ll see me do standup once in awhile and that’s it.”