Ellen DeGeneres Prepares Emotional Goodbye in Final Ellen Show Entrance as Talk Show Wraps — Watch
Michael Rozman & Sarah Haas/Warner Bros.
Ellen DeGeneres is ready for one last dance around the studio.
The 64-year-old comedian will say goodbye to her award-winning, self-titled talk show on Thursday in the final episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which is wrapping after 19 seasons. And in a sneak peek from the farewell, she seems to be soaking up the love.
"Welcome to our very last show," a dapperly dressed DeGeneres says in the clip, her eyes welling up with emotion as she receives a standing ovation from an audience of eager viewers (including wife Portia de Rossi, standing in the front row).
Prior to her entrance, the show cuts through 19 years of DeGeneres hellos from every season premiere starting with the 2003 debut, in which the stand-up star hilariously watched her own show from a couch.
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Since the beginning, a lot has changed for DeGeneres. She started the series as her career was just beginning to bounce back from the backlash she received after coming out in 1997, growing over the following two decades into one of the most visible and decorated comedians working in the industry.
Her talk show has won 61 Emmys and counting — 11 for outstanding talk show/entertainment talk show, surpassing the record set by The Oprah Winfrey Show.
DeGeneres revealed last May that her show would be ending, in an announcement that came months after the program was embroiled in controversy over allegations of workplace toxicity. She told The Hollywood Reporter at the time the scandal was not the reason behind the decision.
Looking back on on her run after the taping of her final episode in April, DeGeneres thanked viewers for all their support over the years.
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"When we started this show in 2003, the iPhone didn't exist. Social Media didn't exist. Gay marriage wasn't legal. We watched the world change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not," DeGeneres said. "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.
"Being invited into your lives has been the greatest privilege of my life and has brought me incredible joy," she added. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
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In the past few weeks, DeGeneres has been saying goodbye with visits from memorable guests like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Zac Efron, Mila Kunis, Bruno Mars, and Justin Timberlake; show favorite Stephen "tWitch" Boss; and cousins Sophia Grace and Rosie, who gained popularity after DeGeneres showed their cover of Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" in 2011.
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Thursday's finale will feature Pink, who wrote the show's Emmy Award-winning theme song, as well as Billie Eilish.
Jennifer Aniston, the first guest on the Ellen show's first episode in 2003, will have a full-circle moment as she appears as DeGeneres' last guest.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show airs in syndication (check local listings).
