Ellen DeGeneres has confirmed that she and her wife, Portia de Rossi, decided to move to the UK after Donald Trump won the US presidential election last year.
Following the release of her Netflix stand-up special, the comedian announced that she was retiring from show business and moving to the English countryside with her wife. Fans have been wondering whether the toxic workplace allegations on her talk show were part of the reason why they moved or if they were motivated by the political events in the US.
Why Did Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi Decide to Move to the UK?
Speaking with broadcaster Richard Bacon at the Everyman theatre (via BBC), DeGeneres revealed that she and de Rossi moved to the UK countryside after Trump won the US presidential election.
Initially, they were looking for "a part-time house" in the UK to spend time for a few months every year, but it all changed when Trump snagged a victory.
"We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, 'He got in.' And we're like, 'We're staying here,'" the comedian said.
DeGeneres shared that their life in the UK countryside has been "absolutely beautiful," and the community has been very welcoming.
"We're just not used to seeing this kind of beauty. The villages and the towns and the architecture - everything you see is charming, and it's just a simpler way of life. It's clean. Everything here is just better - the way animals are treated, people are polite. I just love it here," she said.
"We moved here in November, which was not the ideal time, but I saw snow for the first time in my life. We love it here. Portia flew her horses here, and I have chickens, and we had sheep for about two weeks."
What Does Ellen DeGeneres Think of the LGBTQIA+ Issues in the US?
DeGeneres also weighed in on the issues that are happening among the LGBTQIA+ community in the US, especially the recent move by the Southern Baptist Convention to endorse the reversal of a Supreme Court case allowing same-sex marriage, and their impact on her marriage with de Rossi.
"The Baptist Church in America is trying to reverse gay marriage. They're trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it. Portia and I are already looking into it, and if they do that, we're going to get married here," she said.
When she responded later in an audience question, DeGeneres added, "I wish we were at a place where it was not scary for people to be who they are. I wish that we lived in a society where everybody could accept other people and their differences. So until we're there, I think there's a hard place to say we have huge progress."
Despite that, DeGeneres is optimistic that the younger generation is "more comfortable with it" and "is going to show us the way."
What do you think of DeGeneres' remarks? Let us know in the comments.
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