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Ellen DeGeneres To End Her Daytime Talk Show Next Year

Ellen DeGeneres announced that she would end her long-running US talk show the following year after 19 seasons on the air.

“As great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge any more,” she told the Hollywood Reporter yesterday. The announcement comes a few months after the actress-producer faced accusations that her show was a toxic workplace.

Three senior producers lost their jobs, and DeGeneres opened the current season of the talk show with an apology, saying: “things happened here that never should have happened.”

The Ellen DeGeneres Show has aired since September 2003. Its host achieved international fame with her interviews, comedy, and human-interest stories on American television.

However, audience ratings have declined in recent years.

“I was going to stop after season 16,” DeGeneres said, adding: “That was going to be my last season and they wanted to sign for four more years and I said I’d sign for maybe for one.”

“They were saying there was no way to sign for one. ‘We can’t do that with the affiliates and the stations need more of a commitment’,” she went on.

“So, we [settled] on three more years and I knew that it would be my last. That was the plan all along,” DeGeneres stated.

The Ellen DeGeneres show celebrated its 3,000th edition last month, an experience its host described as “emotional.” It has won more than 60 Daytime Emmys, including one that named it an outstanding entertainment talk show in 2020.

The show will end in 2022 after its nineteenth season.

“It’s going to be really hard on the last day, but I also know it’s time,” she continued. “I’m a creative person, and when you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged.”

The 63-year-old woman said that last year’s allegations had not been a factor in her decision.

“If I was quitting the show because of that, I wouldn’t have come back this season,” she commented. However, she admitted that the situation “destroyed” her and broke her heart when she learned that the people had nothing other than a fantastic experience here.

DeGeneres announced her decision to her staff on Tuesday and will discuss the show’s ending in an interview with fellow chat show host Oprah Winfrey today.