KEY POINTS

  • Jennifer Aniston got emotional when she taped the final episode of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in April
  • The "Friends" alum requested to meet pal Ellen DeGeneres backstage before they filmed the finale to "get the emotions out"
  • Aniston was the first guest when the show premiered in 2003 and returned for the final episode, which aired in May

Jennifer Aniston is getting candid about how she felt filming the last episode of her close pal Ellen DeGeneres's talk show.

The "Morning Show" star admitted she had trouble holding it together during the finale of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

"It was so bizarrely sad," Aniston, 53, told People. "I have to say, because I did the show at the beginning of the year and I was really emotional then, and I kind of was like, 'I can't do that on the last show. I'm going to really lose it.'"

Aniston appeared on DeGeneres' eponymous daytime talk show multiple times throughout its 19-season run. She was the first guest when the show premiered in September 2003 and returned for the final episode, which was filmed on April 28 and aired on May 26.

During the series finale, DeGeneres, 64, and Aniston reminisced about all their shared memories on the show. The "Friends" star gifted the host a "Thanks for the Memories" welcome mat, in a nod to the mat she gave DeGeneres during her first guest appearance on the show nearly two decades ago.

Aniston told People that she requested to see her pal DeGeneres backstage one final time before taping the segment in the studio. She explained that they wanted to get their emotions out beforehand.

"It didn't feel like the last show. It was bizarre," Aniston added.

It has been weeks since the finale aired, but Aniston admitted that she still hasn't processed the fact that she would never be a guest on the show ever again.

"I still can't wrap my head around [the fact] that that's it," she said. "It's not going to be there anymore, because it was such a staple."

The "Murder Mystery" actress added that she couldn't imagine that there would be anything else good enough to replace the show.

"Even though the world was there before Ellen and now it'll be there after, she was such a source of entertainment and love and joy and laughter for people. It's sad," she shared. "I don't understand what's going to fill it."

During her appearance on the final episode of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Aniston and DeGeneres looked back at the past years, and the actress managed to joke about her divorce from ex-husband Brad Pitt. Their divorce was finalized in October 2005, over a year after her sitcom "Friends" wrapped up in May 2004.

"Well, I got a divorce and went into therapy," she told DeGeneres. "Oh! And then I did a movie called 'The Break-Up.' I just kinda leaned into the end. I just was like, 'You know what, guys? Let's make this a completely new chapter. Let's just end everything and start new.' It worked great!"

Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston attends the 2018 InStyle Awards at The Getty Center on October 22, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images/Matt Winkelmeyer