Ellen DeGeneres is now calling the Cotswolds home, and it’s not just for the views. During a public talk at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham, she revealed that the 2016 election was the final push she and her wife, Portia de Rossi, needed to make their UK stay permanent.
“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,’” she shared.
Originally, their countryside estate was meant to be a retreat. But once Donald Trump was elected, DeGeneres decided they were better off across the pond. “Everything here is just better,” she added.
The former talk show host, whose show ended following allegations of workplace misconduct, opened up about why she left the U.S.
“I wish we were at a place where it was not scary for people to be who they are,” she said. “So until we’re there, I think there’s a hard place to say we have huge progress.”
She also expressed concerns about efforts in the U.S. to roll back LGBTQ+ rights. “They’re trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it,” she said. “Portia and I are already looking into it, and if they do that, we’re going to get married here.”
Despite idyllic views, DeGeneres acknowledges no place is perfect—but for now, England feels right.
