Ellen DeGeneres reveals triple diagnosis in health update: ‘It’s hard to be honest’

Ellen DeGeneres has sent her love to the family of Anne Heche
-Credit: (Image: theellenshow/Instagram)


Ellen Degeneres reveals she’s been diagnosed with Osteoporosis, OCD, and ADHD. The former talk show host, 66, shared an update on her health in her new Netflix comedy special, For Your Approval. “I don’t even know how I’m standing up right now. I’m like a human sandcastle. I could disintegrate in the shower,” the comedian confessed. She added: “It’s hard to be honest about aging and seem cool."

In addition to osteoporosis, Ellen also opened up on learning she had arthritis. “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'".

Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Degeneres reveals she’s been diagnosed with Osteoporosis, OCD, and ADHD -Credit:Casey Durkin/NBC via Getty Images

“I said, ‘How did I get that?’ And he said, ‘Oh it just happens at your age.'”

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In the TV special, the star also reveals that she found it "devastating" to be branded "mean". The comedian's long-running daytime talk show came under fire in 2020 over allegations of a toxic workplace and while she used to "care what people think" of her as a way to calculate her success, she's given up worrying about the opinions of others after allowing the negative labels to "consume" her. Ellen said: “When you’re a public figure, you’re open to everyone’s interpretation. And I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that, ‘What other people think of me is none of my business.’

"Because people will say all kinds of things and you have no control over that. But you know the truth and that’s all that matters.

Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi
Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi -Credit:Getty

“I’ve spent an entire lifetime trying to make people happy and I’ve cared far too much what other people think of me...

“If they like you, you’re in, and if they don’t, you’re out. And I’ve spent an entire lifetime trying to make people happy and I’ve cared far too much what other people think of me. So, the thought of anyone thinking that I’m mean was devastating to me, and it consumed me for a long time.

“After a lifetime of caring, I just can’t anymore. So I don’t.”

Ellen thanked her fans for watching her special, in a post on Instagram. She wrote: "Thank you to everyone who has watched my special and shared how much you enjoyed it. It means a lot to me. I have been in this business for over 4 decades. I have done so many things I could have only dreamed of doing when I started, and all of it is thanks to you. Whether you called in to vote for me for Showtime’s Funniest Person in America back in 1982, or you clicked the “I loved it!” button after watching my @Netflix special this week, I appreciate the love, and I send it right back you."