Ellen DeGeneres has retired her talk show dancing shoes.
After 19 seasons, the daytime TV legend took her final bow as host of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” as she filmed its final episode on April 28. The show’s last hurrah will air on May 26.
DeGeneres reflected on the moment with a sentimental nod to the past.
“When we started this show in 2003, the iPhone didn’t exist,” she wrote on Instagram. “Social Media didn’t exist. Gay marriage wasn’t legal. We watched the world change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. But whatever was happening, my goal was always for the show to be a place where we could all come together and laugh for an hour.”
The comedian ended her message with gratitude for her fans.
“Being invited into your lives has been the greatest privilege of my life and has brought me incredible joy,” she wrote. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
In recent weeks, guests like Michelle Obama and Kim Kardashian have taped farewell appearances on the show.
DeGeneres announced plans for her show to end back in May 2021, saying that she was listening to her gut.
“The truth is, I always trust my instincts,” she said at the time. “My instinct told me it’s time. As a comedian, I’ve always understood the importance of timing. In all seriousness, I truly have felt like next season was the right time to end this amazing chapter.”
The announcement came during a difficult time for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” where allegations of a “toxic work environment” had made headlines. Though DeGeneres’ sunny image took a hit, she insisted the negative press wasn’t the reason she ultimately decided to end the show.
“If it was why I was quitting, I would have not come back this year,” she told TODAY at the time.. “I really did think about not coming back, because it was devastating. It started with attacks on me and attacking everything that I stand for and believe in and built my career around…I am a kind person. I am a person who likes to make people happy.”
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” airs its final episode on May 26.
