Ever since she announced she was packing up and leaving the US, there has been some speculation over the reason why Ellen DeGeneres would do it.

Last year she announced she was quitting Hollywood and we ‘won’t be seeing her again’ once she wrapped up her comedy tour for Netflix.

When asked if she’d be taking on any other projects she said: “Um, no. This is the last time you’re going to see me. After my Netflix special, I’m done.”

Her talk show, which was very popular in the US, ended in 2022 amid allegations of misconduct from DeGeneres against the staff working there.

“I take this very seriously and I want to say I’m so sorry to the people it affected,” she had said on air regarding the allegations.

Everyone has to retire at some point (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Live Nation)

“I learned that things happened that should never have happened.

“If I’ve ever let someone down, if I’ve ever hurt their feelings, I am sorry for that.”

On her tour she said she ‘got kicked out of show business for being mean’ but insisted she was ‘many things, but I am not mean’.

There have been other claims that a major motivator behind her move was Donald Trump’s election win last year, which has been a reason why several other famous faces have departed Hollywood.

Around that time a source claimed to the Daily Mail that leaving the US was a ‘retirement’ for DeGeneres, as neither she nor wife Portia de Rossi ‘have any projects lined up’ and they’d had their move to the UK planned before the 2024 US election results came in.

Hello spoke to a real estate broker who discussed one possible factor behind DeGeneres’ move which many haven’t discussed.

She announced she was going to retire after her Netflix special, it seems she has (Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for RH)

CEO of Echo Fine Properties Jeff Lichtenstein said that an ‘extra sales tax on mansions selling for above $10 million’ in California has apparently motivated some celebrities to pack up and leave.

He said: “Ellen is not the only one, as Rosie O’Donnell and other Hollywood stars are doing the same

“California has super high income state taxes (14.4%). Combine that with capital gains, it’s an expensive place to live.”

DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi moved to the UK last year and just recently sold one of their houses in the US for $5.2 million (£4 million).

The real estate broker said that the house in Montecito will have netted the couple a tidy profit since they bought it in 2020 for $2.9 million (£2.2 million).

However, still to sell is the $29 million (£22 million) mansion in Bel Air which ought to net quite a significant sum if a buyer can be found.