Ellen DeGeneres confirmed over the weekend that former President Donald Trump's re-election in 2024 prompted her and wife Portia de Rossi to permanently relocate from California to the United Kingdom. Speaking publicly for the first time since the move, the former talk show host told British broadcaster Richard Bacon during an appearance at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham, "He got in. ... And we're like, 'We're staying here.'"
DeGeneres, 67, and de Rossi, 52, arrived in the UK the day before the election and woke up to a flood of text messages from friends, many with crying emojis. "We moved here in November, which was not the ideal time, but I saw snow for the first time in my life," DeGeneres said. "We love it here. Portia flew her horses here, and I have chickens, and we had sheep for about two weeks."
Reports of their Cotswolds relocation had circulated for months, fueled by speculation over political tensions, tax burdens, and personal lifestyle preferences. While neither DeGeneres nor de Rossi had publicly confirmed their motivations until now, DeGeneres' remarks put months of conjecture to rest. "Yes," she responded directly when Bacon asked if Trump's re-election played a role.
The couple initially viewed their UK property as a seasonal retreat. "It was going to be a part-time house," DeGeneres said, estimating they planned to spend three or four months of the year abroad. But Trump's victory shifted their plans toward a permanent departure from the United States.
The pair sold their California estate for $96 million in August 2024, according to real estate sources cited by People. By October, DeGeneres had already been house hunting in England and reportedly closed on their new property shortly thereafter.
DeGeneres gushed about the lifestyle and environment in rural England. "It's absolutely beautiful. We're just not used to seeing this kind of beauty," she said. "The villages and the towns and the architecture - everything you see is charming and it's just a simpler way of life."
"Everything here is just better - the way animals are treated, people are polite," she added. "I just love it here."
The relocation has attracted attention from fellow celebrities, including Rosie O'Donnell, who also left the U.S. for Dublin earlier this year. "I've never really known Ellen to say anything political in her life, so I was surprised to read that she left because of President Trump," O'Donnell told Us Weekly in April. "Like, that shocked me, actually."
DeGeneres and de Rossi have been together since 2004 and married in August 2008. Their decision to leave the U.S. marks one of the most high-profile celebrity relocations linked to political developments in the current administration.
