Portia De Rossi ‘Has Not Adapted Well’ to Life in the U.K. As She and Wife Ellen DeGeneres Plan Exit

Ellen DeGeneres is heading back to California with wife Portia de Rossi after a year’s exile in England, and insiders say that the return is part of the disgraced former talk queen’s desperate attempt to rebuild her career as well as save her sputtering, 17-year marriage.

DeGeneres and Portia fled to Europe in November 2024 after moaning that they couldn’t hack life in America under President Donald Trump, and played house in a home in a remote English village 100 miles from London.

But life slowly got boring on the other side of the pond.

Reveals a source, “It was a great idea at the time that got them away from Trump’s America and provided Ellen a refuge to carefully plot her comeback without the noise or pressure in L.A. But the day-to-day reality of life in the rainy countryside has gotten increasingly boring and frustrating for both of them.”

The source adds Portia, 52, “has not adapted well, the weather doesn’t agree with her and she’s got very little to do except take long walks in the freezing cold or sit around the house while Ellen’s locked in Zoom calls or brainstorming a strategy for her eventual comeback attempt.”

As Globe reported, DeGeneres 67, is still reeling after becoming a Hollywood pariah following a high-profile bullying scandal that erupted in 2020.

A slew of employees accused her of fostering a toxic workplace during her heyday as host of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and she failed at a comeback after being taken off air in May 2022.

Despite being branded America’s most hated woman, DeGeneres went ahead with a comedy special that aired on Netflix in 2024, but it got slammed by critics as unfunny and tone-deaf.

Still, insiders say she refuses to give up on winning back her fans and is plotting a return in the near future — while also refocusing on her big-bucks side hustle of buying and flipping real estate.

Explains an insider: “They agree it’s time to head back and take care of a lot of business that’s stacked up — especially Ellen’s real estate empire.”

“There is a worry that they’ll just fall into the same busy pattern and gradually get just as bored back on U.S. soil, but at least they’ll be in familiar territory.”