WATCH: Ellen DeGeneres Cries When Honored for 2,000 Show

Ellen has laughed a lot on her show—as have the estimated 859,200 people in her audience during the show's 12 year run. But the 57-year-old, Emmy-award winning host rarely cries. 

For her 2,000 show, she opened with some whopping statistics: "We've had 8,302 guests and 1,145 bands," she said, "and together they've gone through 4 million barrels of whiskey, I'll tell ya that." Then, getting misty-eyed, she said, "If someone had told me I was gonna make 2,000 shows, first of all, I would've asked for a lot more money. But I would have said, 'You're crazy.' Two thousand is a lot."

All that dancing has apparently paid off. "I've danced 136 miles, which is the length of five marathons," she said. "But I go up steps, so that's like 10 marathons. No wonder I have the legs of a goddess. It's a shame you don't see them."

The Ellen Show has run for more than a decade and 13 seasons. In that time, Ellen has garnered a reputation for surprising, pranking, and scaring guests. But for the 2,000 show, Ellen was surprised—with three unknown visitors. 

The first was Jennifer Aniston, Ellen's first guest on the show 12 years ago. Aniston walked in carrying a welcome mat—the same present she brought Ellen during the first episode. 

Saying she wanted to bring some "sexy back," Aniston announced the second surprise guest, Justin Timberlake, who entered amid thunderous applause. Sitting on the sofa, the two stars were evidently very revlieved that they managed to pull off a double surprise—"Ellen is very hard to surprise," Aniston said. 

The most touching moment—and the point at which Ellen really lost it—was when Peter Roth, president and chief content officer of Warner Bros. Television Group, walked in carrying a plague. 

"Ellen, for only the fourth time in the 90-year history of Warner Brothers and in recognition of this the 2,000th show, I am so pleased and so personally privileged to be able to officially dedicate Stage 1 which forever more will be now known as 'The Ellen Stage,'" he said.

With this, Aniston had to hand Ellen a tissue. 

Ellen has long been a master of comedy, but during her show's long run she has never held back from being serious when it was needed. As a widely-viewed public figure and out lesbian, she has tackled hotbed issues with razor-sharp humor, honesty, and fearlessness. During the public outcry over teen suicides due to antigay bullying in 2010, her video for Dan Savage's It Gets Better campaign was the last time we can remember Ellen crying—check it out below. 

Ellen and her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, have been a publicly affectionate couple for ten years, trailblazing for LGBT visiblity and making our hearts melt. 

Congrats Ellen! Watch a clip of the 2,000 Ellen Show below: 

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