Ellen DeGeneres superfan pumped to see her 'inspiration' in Calgary this weekend
Shantel Miller has loved Ellen DeGeneres her whole life.
The millennial has followed her stand-up for years, and collects episodes of her talk show on a very full PVR in Airdrie, Alta.
And this weekend, she and 15,000 other people will pack the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary to watch A Conversation with Ellen DeGeneres.
But she's not just any superfan.
"She's just an inspiration. Watching her show, I can't help but it makes my day," Miller told the Calgary Eyeopener on Friday. "All the laughs and all the good things, she's just a genuine person."
Nearly four million people tune into the daytime talk show each day, and this weekend's event is sold out.
Miller knows first hand how difficult it can be to get tickets to see Ellen live.
For years, she signed up for reminders to apply to attend the show, which is recorded in California. In 2016, she finally won tickets.
Producers deemed her a superfan and picked her for a game with Ellen, called Baby Boomers vs. Millennials.
The quiz asked questions about the Beatles and Tinder, neither of which were answered very well. But both guests laughed lots and won a TV.
'Just meant so much to me'
At the time, people in her home province of Alberta were being evacuated due to the Fort McMurray wildfire.
So Miller was motivated to ask Ellen to deliver her TV to someone else.
"She's my absolute favourite person in the entire world, she's my idol, so it just meant so much to me just to get to meet her in the first place," Miller said.
Ellen did give the TV to someone else, and also invited Miller back to the show's set. The host read out Miller's letter on the broadcast — and gave her a Chevy Malibu sedan.
"She did tell me not to give this one away. She said I did my good deed giving the TV away and I still got the car," Miller said.
This weekend, Miller is very excited to be in the crowd, once again.
"I'm expecting nothing but positivity," Miller said. "She's one of the funniest people in the world."
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With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.
