Ellen DeGeneres is mourning the tragic loss of one of her favorite guests.
You may recall that Tayt Andersen made several appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show over the years, starting in 2013. While on the daytime talk show, his mom, Chrissy Andersen, explained that he was born without the left side of his heart and has been in and out hospitals most of his life. He even had 12 surgeries before the age of 9. Jeez.
During these tough times, she said Tayt often found a lot of joy in watching Ellen — so much so that he would request any doctor’s appointments to happen either before or after the show. He would even make the nurses sit with him while watching the episodes! Tayt was clearly her number one fan! However, he didn’t consider himself only her fan! Tayt loved Ellen so much that he often referred to her as his “girlfriend,” so the comedian also dubbed him her “only boyfriend!”
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Sadly, Tayt has experienced more health issues over the years. A GoFundMe page stated that after he received a heart transplant at 10, he was diagnosed with post-transplant lymphoma in his teens. Awful. Last year, he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. His condition worsened by June 2025. The cancer spread to his pelvis, spine, abdomen, chest, and neck, and doctors gave him three to four months to live.
Now it really breaks our hearts to write this. He sadly passed away on Friday morning at 19 years old. His family announced the devastating news on Instagram that same day, saying:
“Our hearts are absolutely shattered as we share the news we never wanted to write: Our sweet, strong warrior, Tayt, was released from his bodily prison early this morning, at 1:30 a.m. CT, surrounded by the fierce love of his family. While our souls feel shattered and lost by this unimaginable grief, we are so thankful that Tayt is finally free. No more pain, no more appointments, no more treatments.”
The family went on to share that Tayt took a “turn for the worse due to an infection” last weekend, adding:
“Tayt fought one last battle. He was so alert and responsive on Sunday, but by the night, he was in pain. After a long night, he finally found peace and drifted off to sleep around 4:00 a.m. Monday. He remained asleep and unresponsive, resting comfortably, until he passed away peacefully early this morning. … We knew Tayt time was limited but we honestly just weren’t ready to lose him.”
Just gut-wrenching. See the post (below):
Hours later, Ellen took to Instagram to post an emotional video reacting to the news. With tears in her eyes, the 67-year-old voice actor said:
“We had a very special guest on the show several times, and his name is Tayt. And he thought that I was his girlfriend, and so I told him he was my boyfriend, which shocked my wife. But he was a very special little human being, and just brought joy and life and laughter into every room that he was in. I will miss him.”
A montage of Tayt’s appearances on the talk show then played. You can watch it (below):
A beautiful tribute. Tayt’s mom Chrissy expressed her love and gratitude for Ellen in the comments, writing:
“We love you so much thank you for being his girlfriend you gave him so much strength”
We’re sending our love to Tayt’s family and Ellen. He will be missed so much. Rest in peace…
[Image via Ellen DeGeneres/Instagram]
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