Ellen DeGeneres isn’t ruling out a possible return to TV.
DeGeneres, 67, admitted during a live conversation on Sunday, July 20, with English broadcaster Richard Bacon that she misses “a lot” about her show — but is unsure whether that format would be successful anymore.
“I mean, I wish it did, because I would do the same thing here. I would love to do that again, but I just feel like people are watching on their phones, or people aren’t really paying attention as much to televisions, because we’re so inundated with information and entertainment,” DeGeneres said, per BBC.
While DeGeneres wasn’t sure what would be in her future, the comedian shared she would “very carefully” select her next career move.
“I just don’t know what that is yet,” she said. “I want to have fun, I want to do something. I do like my chickens but I’m a little bit bored.”
DeGeneres was the host of her eponymous talk show from 2003 to 2022. Before the show came to an end, DeGeneres came under fire after multiple accusations swirled of toxic behavior on set. After an internal investigation, DeGeneres promised there would be change.
“The truth is, I am that person that you see on TV. I am also a lot of other things. … I am a work in progress, and I am especially working on the impatience thing and it’s not going well because it’s not happening fast enough. I will tell you that,” she said in a monologue when her show returned in 2020.
DeGeneres, for her part, reflected on the scandal on Sunday after addressing it in her 2024 Netflix special.
“No matter what, any article that came up, it was like, ‘She’s mean’, and it’s like, how do I deal with this without sounding like a victim or ‘poor me’ or complaining? But I wanted to address it,” she said. “It’s as simple as, I’m a direct person, and I’m very blunt, and I guess sometimes that means that… I’m mean?”
DeGeneres claimed that it was “kind of crazy” that calling someone mean “can be the worst thing that you say about a woman.”
“How dare us have any kind of mood, or you can’t be anything other than nice and sweet and kind and submissive and complacent. I don’t think I can say anything that’s ever going to get rid of that [reputation] or dispel it, which is hurtful to me. I hate it. I hate that people think that I’m that because I know who I am and I know that I’m an empathetic, compassionate person,” she said, noting it was “certainly an unpleasant way to end” her talk show.
