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Ellen DeGeneres is proudly embracing 'looking older' after retiring from national television

DeGeneres explained that her beauty regime underwent a significant transformation


Senior Writer
OCTOBER 2, 2024 4:53 PM EDT

Ellen DeGeneres is proudly embracing "looking older" after retiring from her television sitcom The Ellen Show. During her Netflix special Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval, the 66-year-old comedian and former TV host revealed she "stopped doing Botox and filler."

"I used to say that I didn't care what other people thought of me," she said. "I realize now, looking back, that I said that at the height of my popularity."

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Ellen DeGeneres speaks onstage during the Michelle Obama: The Light We Carry Tour at Warner Theatre on November 15, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Live Nation)

Ellen then warned the show's crowd: "Hey, if I look older than when you saw me last it's because I'm older than when you saw me last. And also I stopped doing Botox and filler."

DeGeneres explained that her beauty regime underwent a significant transformation after she decided to step away from national television. She revealed that this shift contributed to her overall sense of well-being and balance. "I used to do Botox and filler back when I didn't care what other people thought of me... such a waste of time to worry about what other think of us. Just a waste of energy. We're just guessing, we don't know. It's impossible to guess what people are thinking," she reflected.

During the standup special, DeGeneres also shared that she discovered she had "full-on osteoporosis." According to her, she could crumble any minute. "I don't even know how I'm standing up right now. I'm like a human sandcastle. I could disintegrate in the shower," she said. "It's hard to be honest about aging and seem cool."

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Ellen DeGeneres reclaims comedy and addresses toxicity controversy

Ellen explained how she discovered she had a health condition. "I had excruciating pain one day, and I thought I tore a ligament or something, and I got an MRI, and they said, 'No, it's just arthritis. I said, 'How did I get that?' And he said, 'Oh, it just happens at your age,'" the star joked.

Non-surprisingly, Ellen addressed the toxic workplace allegations made against her, revealing how the whole situation had an impact on her mental health. "So, I have ADD, I have OCD, I'm losing my memory. But I think I'm well-adjusted because I obsess on things, but I don't have the attention span to stick with it, and I quickly forget what I was obsessing about in the first place," she said. "So, it takes me all the way around to being well-adjusted, I think."

She told her fans in July, “This is the last time you’re going to see me.” She made an appearance in San Francisco during her farewell tour, 'Ellen's Last Stand... Up.' “After my Netflix special, I’m done," she explained. “To answer the questions everyone is asking me, yes, I’m going to talk about it," she said in a statement. 

“No, I’m going bye-bye, remember," she assured her fans. “[I] can be demanding and impatient and tough. I am a strong woman. I am many things, but I am not mean,” she previously said about the controversy. “I used to say, ‘I don’t care what people say about me.’ Now I realize I said that during the height of my popularity.”