Ellen DeGeneres gives update on Portia de Rossi’s shock hospitalisation

DeGeneres joked that she tried to offer free tickets to her talk show in exchange for more pain relief for de Rossi

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi in 2020 (Rex Features)

Ellen DeGeneres has spoken out about her wife Portia de Rossi’s shock hospitalisation over the weekend, where she underwent emergency surgery for appendicitis.

In a monologue recorded for Tuesday’s show, the 63-year-old comedian revealed that de Rossi had told her around 7.30pm that she wasn’t feeling well and wanted to go to bed.

“And it was like 8 o'clock and that's early,” she said before jokingly adding, “I'm not used to going to bed that early. We go to bed around 8:30.”

The talk show host admitted she took sleeping medication so she could fall asleep at the same time as her wife, but was awoken in the night.

“I look over and Portia is not in bed next to me,” she recalled.

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“I get out of bed and I find Portia on the floor on all fours. And I'm like, 'Baby are you okay?' And she says, 'Yeah, I'm okay.' And I said, 'Well you're okay if you're playing Twister by yourself, but you're not okay. You're on the floor.'”

DeGeneres then drove de Rossi to the hospital where she was admitted for emergency surgery.

“That's upsetting to me. They sent me home and I'm crying,” she said.

“Because someone was chopping onions at the nurse's station,” she joked.

She added that de Rossi’s pain was so severe that she tried to offer free tickets to The Ellen DeGeneres Show in exchange for more pain relief for her wife, admitting that this approach did not work because “that’s the rules”.

“I am happy to report Portia is feeling much better now. She's home. She came home late yesterday,” she said.

“Not all of her, she left her appendix at the hospital. I'm going to auction off the appendix for charity. I'm kidding, it's gonna go on eBay,” she joked.

The news of de Rossi’s hospitalisation comes after The Ellen DeGeneres Show lost over a million viewers following allegations of a toxic workplace on the show.

Series 18 of the show debuted on 21 September 2020, with DeGeneres apologising to fans as she addressed the controversy for the first time. The episode drew the highest ratings for a premiere in four years.

She said: “I learned that things happened here that never should have happened.

“I take that very seriously and I want to say I am so sorry to the people that were affected.

“I know that I am in a position of privilege and power and with that comes responsibility and I take responsibility for what happens at my show,” she added.

Despite this, The Ellen DeGeneres Show’s viewership has dropped significantly since then, according to Nielsen ratings.