It’s a long-standing rumor within the larger entertainment industry that certain TV talk shows had a list of banned guests that were prohibited from being invited back.
While some programs like The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson had a more explicit round-up of guests that weren’t welcome on the show, others like The Ellen DeGeneres Show might had had a less well-known list of celebrities that the 68-year-old comedian didn’t want appearing on her show.
One notable example can apparently be found with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who, according to a former Ellen staffer, was banned from appearing on the show for almost a decade after insulting the host’s cooking.
According to Cracked, a backstage crew member who worked on The Ellen DeGeneres Show revealed that the series’ host had an allegedly terse reaction to Ramsay playfully bashing her culinary skills during a 2010 appearance on the show.
After calling DeGeneres’ cooking “rubbish,” the famed Hell’s Kitchen star was reportedly not invited back to appear on the show for nearly 10 years.
“(Ramsay) gave her some quip. They were doing a food test together, and Ellen offered him a sample first,” claimed the unnamed cameraman. “As soon as he bit in, he was like, ‘This is rubbish. This is disgusting.”
“She didn’t like the reaction,” the crew member continued. “It was like eight seasons he didn’t come back for after.”
The cameraman then went on share another example of how a seemingly innocent remark from a guest might result in a ban from DeGeneres, including an otherwise innocent moment when a warm-up act warned DeGeneres to be careful while performing a potentially dangerous stunt.
“(One show) Ellen came out, and she was on a unicycle,” the cameraman said. “The anchor made a comment like ‘Don’t fall!’ and Ellen said something along the lines of, ‘No, I won’t.’”
“She told one of her EPs, ‘Don’t let this guy on the show again,’” he continued. “You were uninvited as a guest pretty easily.”
This story was originally published by Parade on May 27, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
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