Ellen DeGeneres Mourns “Boyfriend” Tayt Andersen, 19, After His Death

Originally appeared on E! Online

Ellen DeGeneres is remembering someone dear to her.

The former talk show shared a moving tribute to a frequent guest of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Tayt Andersen, who died on Sept. 26 after “taking a turn for the worse due to an infection” amid his battle with cancer, according to his family. He was 19.

“We had a very special guest on the show several times and his name is Tayt,” Ellen said in an Instagram video posted shortly after his passing. “He thought that I was his girlfriend, and so I told him he was my boyfriend.”

The 67-year-old shared fond memories of Tayt, saying that he was “a very special little human being and just brought joy and life and laughter into every room that he was in.”

While Ellen, who has been married to wife Portia de Rossi since 2008, looked as if she had more to say, tears began to fill her eyes as she added, “I will miss him.”

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In a montage of Tayt’s many appearances on the daytime talk show, his mother Chrissy Andersen shared that he had been born with half a heart, and found so much joy in watching in Ellen amid his surgeries—he had 12 before the age of 9—Tayt requested that any doctors appointments happen before or after her show. He would make the nurses sit with him while he watched every episode.

Tayt’s family shared the news of his passing to Instagram, noting that he died early in the morning on Sept. 26 “surrounded by the fierce love of his family” following a 2024 bladder cancer diagnosis.

“While our souls feel shattered and lost by this unimaginable grief,” the caption read, “we are so thankful that Tayt is finally free. No more pain, no more appointments, no more treatments.”

His loved ones noted that the teen was dealing with an infection, and while “he was so alert and responsive on Sunday,” he was in terrible pain the rest of the night and “remained asleep and unresponsive, resting comfortably, until he passed away peacefully early this morning.”

The family spent the day before his death “calling and FaceTiming family so they could say their goodbyes,” as well as watching his favorite movies and reading his favorite books.

“We knew Tayt time was limited,” they wrote, “but we honestly just weren’t ready to lose him.”

They added, “There are truly no words to describe this pain; we are just moving through this painful process, grateful for every moment we had with our amazing boy.”

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