Ellen DeGeneres says her talk show has been a "second chance".
The 61-year-old star reflected on 16 years as a daytime host and she has admitted the self-titled programme brought her back from a career chasm of sorts five years after her ‘Ellen’ sitcom was cancelled in 1998.
Speaking during Tuesday’s episode (21.05.19), she told the audience: "This show was my second chance… and it turns out it also helped other people go through a tough time. That’s why I’m going to keep doing this show."
Ellen teased the possibility of calling it quits earlier in the episode, before revealing she had signed on for another three years of ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’.
She said: "I’ve been doing this show for 16 years, that’s about 3,000 episodes. I don’t remember them but I’m told they were enjoyable.
"From the beginning I said this show was going to be like a relationship. We have been through the good, the bad, the ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ phase.
"It’s been a lot of fun and 16 years has been a pretty good run. Sometimes, in a relationship, you need to take a break. But I don’t! You’re stuck with me, because I just signed for three more years."
Her announcement comes after speculation the star was set to quit the programme, but the ‘Finding Dory’ star joked she’ll keep on doing it even if "no one’s watching".
She recently said: "I hope I know when. [Maybe] when people kind of are tired of me, and I think I’ll sense that… You know, I’ll walk away really when I stop having fun.
"I actually don’t care about the rest of the people. If I’m having fun and no one’s watching, I don’t care. But if I’m not having fun and everyone’s watching, then I should walk away."
Ellen DeGeneres calls show a ‘second chance’ as she announces new deal
