Ellen DeGeneres' Jarring Makeup-Free Outing Puts Her True Age On Blast

Ellen DeGeneres has always had a youthful glow about her, but a recent outing just reminded folks of her actual age.

The host's ageless radiance was thanks, in part, to her bubbly, fun personality (before DeGeneres' soured reputation flushed her TV career down the toilet) and her dedication to skincare and products friendly to maturing skin. For example, DeGeneres became a CoverGirl spokesperson in 2008, brought on to promote its Simply Ageless Foundation. DeGeneres also worked hard to keep her skin as healthy and youthful as possible — sometimes, even with her own products. "I feel best in my own skin when my skin feels hydrated and clean and fresh and smooth and bright — all the things Kind Science does to it," she shared with E! News about her skincare brand, Kind Science.

With that said, DeGeneres, who is 67 years old as of write time, recently posted the clip above from a makeup-free outing, reminding her fans that she, too, is aging. The former talk show host can be seen rowing down a lake with her wife, Portia de Rossi. And though it's not exactly a close-up shot, you can see that, without makeup, DeGeneres looks much closer to her numerical age than she has in recent years. Of course, that's not a bad thing, given that aging is one of life's most precious gifts, and beauty isn't determined by how old someone is, either. That said, it should serve as a reminder that celebs have access to age-defying tips and tricks that most of the general public don't, so it's best not to compare. Speaking of these tips and tricks, here's one huge trick DeGeneres has supposedly utilized over the years to, quite literally, defy the aging process.

Ellen DeGeneres enjoyed a stint as an "American Idol" judge in 2010. Surprisingly, it sparked a debate about how different she looked on there than on her own show. Some fans, apparently, thought that DeGeneres' youthful flair wasn't nearly as noticeable underneath the harsh spotlights that "American Idol" usually utilized. Her fix, according to The National Enquirer, was to take matters into her own hands. "Ellen thought her 'Idol' close-ups were very unflattering," a source shared with the outlet (via Boston Herald) "She said she was shocked at how old and tired she could look in high definition!" They continued, "So she proceeded to order her own lighting team from her show to come over and make her look better. She had her people add lights and filters to ease her age lines."

With that said, DeGeneres' "American Idol" stint occurred well over a decade ago, and it seems like she's no longer worried about looking younger than she is. During her 2024 comedy special "Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval," DeGeneres revealed that she was looking older because, well, time, and also because Botox and filler were no longer everyday staples. "Hey, if I look older than when you saw me last it's because I'm older than when you saw me last," she said (via Hello!) "And also I stopped doing Botox and filler." She continued, "I used to do Botox and filler back when I didn't care what other people thought of me ... such a waste of time to worry about what other think of us. Just a waste of energy. We're just guessing, we don't know. It's impossible to guess what people are thinking."