Dana Dimatteo, 29, was an audience member of one of the episodes of The Ellen Show in 2019 and was selected to be a part in its Make It Rain segment in which contestants are drenched in water in a bid to win $10,000.
Dimatteo says that she recalled how she was so excited when her name was called out by the comedian, however, the delight did not last for to long as when she observed DeGeneres’s sour behavior when camera weren’t rolling, she felt dismay. She says that “During commercial breaks, Ellen would break out of her ‘kind’ character and sit moodily in silence on her couch, not acknowledging anyone. She didn’t say one word to the audience unless the cameras were on, she snapped out of her character the second the cameras stopped rolling,”
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In addition to that, she also talked about how the producers gave her stern warnings and also to the other members of the audience to not be funnier than the host and were also tested to exhibit the required amount of excitement if by chance their name was called out to participate in the segment of the show. “My friend and I loved the show and it took us so long to get tickets. We flew all the way to Los Angeles from Chicago just for that. We were told by the producers that if we were picked we were not allowed to be funnier or smarter than Ellen, that she is the star and the comedian, not us,” said Dimatteo.
She also added that, “We were told to act in a very specific way and to only speak if she asked us a question. They made us scream and jump around backstage as a test, it was pretty humiliating, Once the game was over, we were soaking wet so they sent us backstage. Then they just left us there…we waited pretty much the whole show in our soaking wet clothes for someone to bring us dry things to change into. It was really cold and uncomfortable. I didn’t enjoy myself at the show. You have to follow all these rules, you can’t be yourself, you have to clap constantly and laugh at things that aren’t funny.”
