The former talk show host opens up about how her life has changed across the pond
Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, Portia de Rossi, relocated to England in November 2024.
In a recent interview in Cheltenham, UK, with journalist Richard Bacon, Ellen opened up about what life has truly been like for them living across the pond.
Ellen and Portia quickly settled into the countryside life, even finding themselves riding lawn mowers every day to keep the grass trimmed for their horses.
Ellen found the nonstop yard work pretty overwhelming and told Portia, “We just can’t keep up with this.” That’s when Portia suggested they get some sheep to help with the grass.
Ellen recalled, “Portia said, ‘Let’s just get four sheep to put in the pastures with the horses,’ so we did. But the next morning, they’d all escaped! They climbed right out, and that’s when I had to buy electric fencing.” It was just the start of their trial-and-error adventure.
You’d think that would’ve been the end of their sheep troubles, but it was just getting started. Ellen said, “They stayed in for a week, then one escaped—and soon after, they all did. That’s when I realized I had to build a proper fence.” But the fence turned out so ugly it ruined the whole look of their property, and she ended up paying to have it taken down.
Ellen joked, “I spent so much money on those sheep—I can’t even tell you how much. And it was Portia’s idea!” On top of that, she had to constantly clean up after the sheep because they left messes all over the field, which their dog couldn’t resist getting into.
Ellen brought some comic relief, playfully asking herself, “Is this what you came for?” and immediately answering, “Yeah,” which had the audience laughing.
She and Portia have also been exploring different parts of England, with Ellen admitting she “can’t pronounce” some of the place names but loves discovering them anyway. She joked, “This is Cheltenham, right? I don’t say ‘Chelten-ham.’ You folks say your place names so fast! Like ‘Bicester’—it should be ‘By-sister,’ but it’s ‘Bicester,’ right?”
Ellen joked that whoever came up with those town names probably thought, “We don’t have time for that.”
She also got candid about the challenges they still face back in the U.S., even while living halfway across the world. Ellen spoke openly about how “The Baptist church in America is trying to reverse gay marriage,” aiming to block future marriages or even undo existing ones.
But Ellen and Portia already have a backup plan. She revealed, “If that happens, we’re getting married here in Cheltenham. Cheese will be on us, and everyone’s invited!”