By ANI
WASHINGTON: As the popular American talk show ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ is heading towards its 19th and final season, which will premiere on September 13, the exclusive star-studded guest list for this last season has finally been revealed.
According to E! News, the series will kick off its final premiere where it started: with its first-ever guest, Jennifer Aniston. It will be the ‘Friends’ alum’s 23rd time on the show, proving that she’ll always be there for longtime host Ellen DeGeneres.
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who will appear on the show for the 20th time, is another frequent guest set to return for season 19.
The audience can also expect a sit-down with Kim Kardashian, which would be her first interview since her long-running docuseries ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ concluded.
Tiffany Haddish, Imagine Dragons, Melissa McCarthy, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Julianne Moore and Melissa Etheridge, are among additional A-list guests slated for the new season.
Ever since DeGeneres announced in May that season 19 would be the show’s last one, fans have been preparing themselves for this fall, eagerly waiting for their favourite show’s final season.
DeGeneres shared with The Hollywood Reporter, “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.”
Though fans didn’t anticipate the end of the show, the series’ in-house DJ, Stephen “tWitch” Boss revealed that he saw the final season coming.
“[Ellen] had announced it three years ago that she signed on for three more years,” he explained to E! News in an exclusive interview in June.
Stephen continued, “So I felt that she was going to stay true to that. It actually didn’t come as a surprise because she had already said it, you know?”
This decision came amid an internal investigation into the show regarding reports of workplace misconduct that resulted in the ousting of three longtime producers: Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and Jonathan Norman. Though DeGeneres went on to address the situation with her staff in July 2020, she was not accused of any wrongdoing.
“On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness–no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect. Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case,” she said in a letter to her employees.
DeGeneres added that she was “committed to ensuring this does not happen again.”
Keeping up her promise, which she made in May, to make every day of season 19 “a celebration,” E! News has learned that throughout the final season, DeGeneres and her team have planned to thank the fans who’ve shown their love and support over these almost 20 years.