Ellen DeGeneres cancels four comedy stand-up dates

In April, she opened the first night of Ellen’s Last Stand… Up Tour by saying: “I didn’t care what other people thought of me, and I realised… I said that at the height of my popularity”.

DeGeneres told the Los Angeles crowd she had been doing lots of gardening since the show ended and collecting chickens as pets – adding that as a former talk show host she appreciated the pressure of having to lay an egg each day.

“What else can I tell you?” she added.

“Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business. There’s no mean people in show business.”

The stand-up show will be released on Netflix, which broadcast her previous stand-up gig, Relatable, in 2018.

DeGeneres’ TV career began with her popular sitcom Ellen in 1994, in which she played the owner of a book shop.

In her opening gig, she referenced her talk show being cancelled after she came out as gay.

“For those of you keeping score, this is the second time I’ve been kicked out of show business… Eventually they’re going to kick me out for a third time because I’m mean, old, and gay,” she said.