Ellen DeGeneres says she and Portia de Rossi are officially staying in the UK for good. She talked about the move during a public appearance in Cheltenham.
Originally, they were going to split their time between the US and the UK. But that plan changed after Trump got reelected. Ellen told the crowd about the moment they landed in the UK just before the election.
She said: “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 also said they might renew their vows in the UK. That decision is tied to growing concerns about US lawmakers pushing back on marriage equality.
Ellen talked about how much she loves the area. She said: “It’s absolutely beautiful. We’re just not used to seeing this kind of beauty. The villages and the towns and the architecture, everything you see is charming and it’s just a simpler way of life. It’s clean. Everything here is just better, the way animals are treated, people are polite. I just love it here.”
She added that they moved in November, which wasn’t perfect timing, but it was still meaningful. She said: “We moved here in November, which was not the ideal time, but I saw snow for the first time in my life. We love it here. Portia flew her horses here, and I have chickens, and we had sheep for about two weeks.”
She also brought up how concerned she is about what’s happening in the US. She said: “The Baptist Church in America is trying to reverse gay marriage. They’re trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it. Portia and I are already looking into it, and if they do that, we’re going to get married here.”
Ellen said she’s sad that things still feel unsafe for so many people. She said: “I wish we were at a place where it was not scary for people to be who they are. I wish that we lived in a society where everybody could accept other people and their differences. So until we’re there, I think there’s a hard place to say we have huge progress.”
Even with all the seriousness, she seems happy with her life in the countryside. She shares a lot online showing quiet scenes and little moments with Portia.