Ellen DeGeneres has revealed she relocated to the UK in direct response to Donald Trump’s presidency, calling her new life in the Cotswolds “better” than what she left behind in the United States.
DeGeneres moved to England in 2024 with her wife, Portia de Rossi, following the end of The Ellen DeGeneres Show and a farewell comedy tour.
Speaking at Cheltenham’s Everyman Theatre on Sunday, her first public appearance since moving abroad, the comedian and former talk show host confirmed the long-rumoured reason behind her relocation during a live Q&A with broadcaster Richard Bacon.
Asked whether Trump’s election influenced her move, DeGeneres responded: “Yes.”
The 67-year-old said she and De Rossi had initially planned to spend three or four months a year in the UK and bought what they thought would be "a part-time house".
She shared: “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 couple settled in the Cotswolds, and at the time, industry insiders described the move as permanent.
While reports suggested political unrest in the U.S. played a part in their decision, DeGeneres had not publicly addressed it until now.
Praising her new life in the UK, she told the audience: “It’s clean. Everything here is just better – the way animals are treated, people are polite. I just love it here.
“ 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.”
DeGeneres also voiced concerns about the state of LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S., referencing a June vote by Southern Baptists to support efforts to overturn same-sex marriage.
“The Baptist Church in America is trying to reverse gay marriage,” she said as reported by . “They’re trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it.”
She added that she and de Rossi are now considering renewing their vows in the UK if rights in the U.S. are rolled back.
“Portia and I are already looking into it, and if they do that, we’re going to get married here.”
Later in the evening, she reflected on the broader political and social climate in the United States, saying: “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.”
In February, DeGeneres was reportedly at loggerheads with her neighbours over an extension to her £15m Cotswolds home.
But despite embracing local life, including visits to Jeremy Clarkson’s pub, her transition hasn’t been entirely smooth.
According to MailOnline, DeGeneres was accused of increasing flood risk and disturbing Roman ruins with modifications to her property.
She was said to have committed a “technical breach” by adding a single-storey extension to the farmhouse, prompting objections from the local parish council.
However, a spokesperson representing DeGeneres told the outlet that the works were completed to a “high standard” and are more than 200 yards from the Roman remains.
