Ellen DeGeneres Considering Retiring From Talk Show When Contract Expires in 2020

Ellen DeGeneres recently revealed that she is considering retiring from her talk show when her contract expires in 2020.

The comedian spoke candidly to the New York Times about her thoughts on retiring, saying that she is debating on whether or not to stay with the show.

She shared that her wife — Arrested Development star Portia de Rossi — would like for her to move on and do new things, but her brother — former Daily Show correspondent Vance DeGeneres — feels like she should stay and keep doing it.

“She gets mad when my brother tells me I can’t stop,” DeGeneres said of de Rossi and Vance’s disagreement over the issue.

“I just think she’s such a brilliant actress and standup that it doesn’t have to be this talk show for her creativity,” de Rossi added. “There are other things she could tackle.”

While she has not decided whether or not to leave daytime TV, DeGeneres is getting back in touch with her standup comedy roots, as the 60-year-old will be releasing a brand new special on Netflix this month.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, she opened up about why she quit doing it many years ago, as well as why she decided to come back.

“I was done with it, you know? I did it for like 20 years,” she admitted. “I used to joke, when I was touring, ‘Someday, you’ll all come to me.’ And now they do. So I just stopped going out.”

“It was my life for 20 years, and it was touring, and it was really hard because it was the beginning, and no one knows who you are. So when I was done with it, I was done,” DeGeneres added. “And then it had been 15 years and I decided I miss it and [thought] it would be a challenge to do another one, and I just decided to start writing. And I’m really happy with it.”

Regarding the nature of her new special — titled Relatable — the beloved comedian and TV personality said that she wanted to show off a different side of herself.

“People know me from my talk show but they don’t — I mean, a lot of people know that I did stand up, but I’ve been on the air for 16 years, and [some people] just know my talk show,” she explained. “I wanted them to know that I did something different.”

Relatable debuts on Netflix on Dec. 18.