Portia de Rossi Urges Ellen DeGeneres to Revisit Stand-Up and 'Continue Being a Teacher' After Talk Show

Portia de Rossi has an idea for wife Ellen DeGeneres's next career move after The Ellen DeGeneres Show ends.

While visiting DeGeneres's long-running daytime series on Tuesday, de Rossi gave the 64-year-old comedian advice on how she should proceed forward in her career.

"Well, honestly, I just want you to do something that makes you really happy," said de Rossi, who has been married to DeGeneres since 2008. "But I want to make sure that you continue being a teacher because that's really what you've been for everybody."

The 49-year-old Arrested Development alum continued, "I just feel like more than ever, we need love and light and laughter. So I hope that you continue to do something like that. Like stand-up, for example. Or, whatever."

De Rossi then said she doesn't "really have an opinion" on the matter but believes that stand-up "would be good" for DeGeneres. But the Finding Dory star quickly reminded de Rossi of a time when she wasn't so supportive of her doing stand-up comedy.

"When I did my special Relatable, I did it after not doing stand-up for 15 years and she had never seen me do stand-up before," said DeGeneres. "She had seen my specials but she had never seen me live and she was petrified. She's like, 'Why do you want to do this to yourself?' She just, really, was against me doing stand-up again."

"And then ever since I've done it, she now can't wait to go back on the road," she added. "She wants me to tour. She wants me to do Vegas."

Chiming in, de Rossi said: "Yeah, I do! Because you're so good at it."

DeGeneres is nearing the final days of her longtime talk show, which premiered in 2003 and will end on May 26 after 19 seasons.

"Look, it's going to be really hard on the last day, but I also know it's time," she told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2021 after announcing the show's end.

"I'm a creative person, and when you're a creative person you constantly need to be challenged, which is why I decided to host the Oscars or why I decided to go back to stand-up when I didn't think I would," she continued. "I just needed something to challenge me. And as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it's just not a challenge anymore. I need something new to challenge me."

Though DeGeneres was still uncertain of what she'd do next, she said starring in a sitcom "seems like a walk in the park" compared to hosting a daytime show but was uncertain if that interested her. DeGeneres also said she'd "for sure" return to movies and "be more involved with conservation and everything that matters to [her] as far as the environment and animals."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Late last month, DeGeneres revealed that she had already taped the final episode of her eponymous series.

"Today we taped the final episode of The Ellen Show which airs on May 26th," she tweeted. "When we started this show in 2003, the iPhone didn't exist. Social Media didn't exist. Gay marriage wasn't legal. We watched the world change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not."

Added DeGeneres, "But whatever was happening, my goal was always for the show to be a place where we could all come together and laugh for an hour. Being invited into your lives has been the greatest privilege of my life and has brought me incredible joy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

The Ellen DeGeneres Show concludes on May 26 (check local listings).