Ellen DeGeneres to end her talk show after 19 seasons, recent scandals – ‘It’s just not a challenge anymore’

Ellen DeGeneres is sending herself home.

The daytime talk legend is calling it quits after her show’s upcoming 19th season in 2022, she told the Hollywood Reporter Wednesday, a move she claims is entirely her choice.

“When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged – and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore,” she told the outlet.

While the 30-time Emmy winner said the plans have been in the works for years, it’s hard to miss the timing of the news after she was bombarded last summer by allegations of behind-the-scenes bullying, sexual harassment and mistreatment.

“It broke my heart when I learned that people here had anything other than a fantastic experience — that people were hurt in any way,” she told the Hollywood Reporter.

“I’m not a scary person. I’m really easy to talk to. So, we’ve all learned from things that we didn’t realize — or I didn’t realize — were happening. I just want people to trust and know that I am who I appear to be.”

The 63-year-old comedian said she’s not sure what’s next, but it won’t be a gap on her resume; DeGeneres maintains an extensive producing portfolio with Warner Bros. that includes “The Masked Dancer,” “Ellen’s Game of Games” and “Ellen’s Next Great Designer.”

“I have some ideas but my agent is just like, “Why don’t you just sit still for a minute. You probably don’t even know how exhausted you are and what it’s going to be like to sit still.” And I don’t know how long I’ll be able to do that because I’m like a Ferrari in neutral,” she told the Hollywood Reporter.

“I’m constantly needing to go. So, that’s my first challenge and then I’m going to figure it out. I wouldn’t have thought I was ever going to do a talk show when I stopped doing movies and sitcoms. I thought that that was the only path. And then all of a sudden there was a talk show that took me on this 19-year journey.”

“The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which premiered in September 2003, passed its 3,000th episode in April and has launched dozens of viral moments, from Kristen Bell crying over a sloth to DeGeneres’ gleeful desire to scare her guests.

In October 2011, DeGeneres invited Sophia Grace and Rosie, 8- and 5-year-old girls from England, to appear on her show after seeing them cover Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass” on YouTube. The appearance turned into a segment for the girls, which won them a trophy at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards and earned them red carpet gigs at the Grammys and Billboard Music Awards.

“This all became bigger than I ever could have dreamed of. I’m not the pretty girl who made it in Hollywood because of the way I looked,” DeGeneres told the Hollywood Reporter.

“I worked from nothing to doing standup to to having this career and I’m so proud of this show. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. And so I’ll miss everything but, in my gut, I know it’s time to do something different.”

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