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Ellen DeGeneres is saying goodbye to her groundbreaking talk show in 2022.

One of the more recognizable faces in the history of daytime TV, DeGeneres announced on Wednesday (May 12) her 19th season hosting Ellen would be her last. She informed her staff on Tuesday (May 10) of the news and will formally announce the end of the show with guest Oprah Winfrey on Thursday (May 13).

In an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 63-year-old Ellen revealed it was time for something else to push her creativity.

“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,” DeGeneres said.

The show began in 2003 and helped catapult Ellen into superstar territory. Since the beginning of the show, she’s hosted the Emmys, the Academy Awards and the Grammys, not to mention taking home over 30 Emmy Awards and a record 20 People’s Choice Awards. She’s also banked $84 million per year according to Forbes from the show as it has become noted for its charitable donations and audience giveaways.

However, the show has not been without controversy. In 2020, a Buzzfeed article highlighting allegations of a toxic workplace prompted several executives to be dismissed and Ellen to open her latest season with an apology to viewers.

“I learned that things happen here that never should have happened,” she said in September 2020. “I take that very seriously. And I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected.”

When asked about what she’ll miss the most versus what she’ll happily be rid of, Ellen kept the moment simple — sorry glam team.

“I will not miss hair and makeup every day,” she said, “I’m not someone who loves to sit in a chair and have that done. And I will not miss fittings — if you gain one pound, the pants don’t fit you the way that they did two weeks ago, so that doesn’t feel good to have fittings. Those are the things I won’t miss. I’ll miss everything else.”

She continued, “Listen, this is my family. They’ve become my best friends. I come to work and I laugh every single day. We create stuff that’s sometimes just funny to us and it’s not exactly mass appeal, but I don’t care ’cause it’s stuff that’s dry and quiet and it’s my humor and, you know, I’ve tried to stay true to who I am and what my brand is. 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. I worked from nothing to doing stand-up 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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Ellen DeGeneres To End Her Talk Show In 2022  was originally published on radionowhouston.com