Entertainment TV Ellen DeGeneres Says She'll 'Sense' When It's Time to Retire: 'People Get Tired of People' Ellen DeGeneres also spoke to Entertainment Tonight about her return to stand-up comedy for the first time in 15 years By Matt McNulty Matt McNulty Matt McNulty is a former writer at PEOPLE. He left PEOPLE in 2019. People Editorial Guidelines Published on May 9, 2019 09:26AM EDT Ellen DeGeneres is best known for her wildly popular daytime TV talk show — but the longtime comedienne says she knows she’ll someday have to walk away. “I hope I know when. [Maybe] when people kind of are tired of me, and I think I’ll sense that,” DeGeneres told Entertainment Tonight‘s Deidre Behar on Wednesday of retiring. Added the Ellen DeGeneres Show host: “People get tired of people, especially in today’s age.” DeGeneres’ comments come after she finally returned to her roots in her recently released Netflix special after 15 years away from the stand-up comedy world. “It was just kind of suggested to me and I was like, ‘Well, maybe so. Maybe that would be something to challenge me,’ ” DeGeneres said about deciding to film the special, which hit the streaming website last December. “I made the deal before I had anything to say. And then, once I made the deal, I panicked.” Michael Rozman/Warner Bros. Ellen DeGeneres Boycotts the Beverly Hills Hotel: About Its Connection to Brunei’s ‘Barbaric’ Anti-Gay Laws She continued to ET, “(I didn’t even write anything) until like a year and a half (after signing the deal).” “I almost gave the money back twice,” DeGeneres continued. “And then, all of a sudden, it all hit me. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I have something to say!’ And the name came to me and the whole thing.” Regardless, DeGeneres told the outlet it was “scary as hell.” Ellen DeGeneres Is Taking Complete Credit for Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez’s Engagement Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable is available to stream now exclusively on Netflix.