Ellen DeGeneres has taken her last dance around the studio. The embattled talk-show host bid farewell to her audience for the last time, as The Ellen DeGeneres Show wraps up after nineteen years, three thousand episodes, millions in giveaways, and a whole heck of a lot of controversies.
The Queen of Daytime emerged from behind a giant screen one last time on Thursday, before dancing around the stage—as she has for 19 seasons of the hit show—to the sound of thunderous applause.
"Welcome to our very last show," Ellen said to rapturous applause from her audience, later becoming emotional as they gave her a standing ovation. Ellen put her hand on her heart as she said “thank you” to the crowd, which included her teary-eyed wife, Portia de Rossi, and brother Vance DeGeneres, who were sitting in the front row.
The host has made her final season a star-studded affair, with guests including Oprah Winfrey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake, Zac Efron, and Bruno Mars.
An ensemble of A-Listers joined the Queen of Daytime for her final show. The famous faces include Billie Eilish, P!nk, and Jenifer Aniston—who just happened to be Ellen's first guest back in 2003.
DailyMail first broke the news that the show would be wrapping production up last year. Few were surprised by the announcement, as it followed Ellen’s toxic workplace scandal that resulted in three of the show’s top producers getting axed.
"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 at the time. "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."
Ellen is also saying goodbye to her $287,356 per episode paycheck, which has helped her build a fortune valued at $500 million. The talk-show host is also making a fortune flipping houses.