‘Ellen’s Only Boyfriend’ dies after battling cancer
Published at | Updated at
RIGBY — A 19-year-old who was known as “Ellen’s only boyfriend” and made several guest appearances on her show when he was a child has died after a battle with Stage 4 bladder cancer.
Tayt Andersen passed away at his home in Texas, surrounded by family, on Friday, Sept. 26. He would have turned 20 next week on Oct. 4.
“Our hearts are absolutely shattered as we share the news we never wanted to write: Our sweet, strong warrior, Tayt, was released from his bodily prison,” Tayt’s stepfather, Aric Becker, wrote on Facebook. “While our souls feel shattered and lost by this unimaginable grief, we are so thankful that Tayt is finally free. No more pain, no more appointments, no more treatments.”
“I am thankful I got to be his mom. Everybody was his friend. Everybody loved him. He had a great personality,” Chrissy Andersen, Tayt’s mother said in a phone interview with EastIdahoNews.com.
Tayt and his family previously lived in Rigby and moved to the Dallas area of Texas to get medical treatments for Tayt in 2021.
He was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome – a rare condition. He had multiple surgeries throughout his life and got a heart transplant in 2015. A video of him talking about getting his new heart was on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
He then got post-transplant lymphoma (PTLD) in his teens. In 2024, he received a bladder cancer diagnosis, which is something older men typically get. At one point, he was in remission but in June of this year, the cancer had come back and had spread terminally.
Chrissy said she has learned that no matter the medical statistics, the will of a person to fight and want to live will outweigh it.
“When he was born, (the doctors) told us he wasn’t going to live for three hours. I think he did pretty good to make it to almost 20 with half a heart, getting a heart transplant and then getting one type of cancer and then getting this complete fluke of a cancer. I mean, how does a 19-year-old get Stage 4 bladder cancer?” she said. “I just feel like every odd that was ever stacked against him, he was like, ‘You want to make a bet?'”
Despite all of the challenges Tayt faced, he was able to graduate from high school in May of this year, which was a big accomplishment. He touched a lot of people’s lives and Chrissy said it was through his strength, fight, and determination.
“When he had a rough day or was going through something, he would just say, ‘Just keep swimming! It will be okay!'” she said.
The phrase, “just keep swimming,” is from one of his favorite movies, Finding Nemo, starring DeGeneres. He loved Dory. He made his first guest appearance on DeGeneres’ show in 2013, according to Chrissy. The talk show host heard about him after learning he had two wishes: go to Disneyland and meet his “girlfriend,” Ellen DeGeneres.
Throughout Tayt’s life, DeGeneres had sent him videos of encouragement, Chrissy said. She even posted a video about him the day that she found out he had died.
“We’ve had a very special guest on our show several times and his name is Tayt. And he thought that I was his girlfriend and so I told him that he was my boyfriend, which shocked my wife. But he was a very special, little human being. Just brought joy and life and laughter to every room that he was in. And I will miss him,” DeGeneres said in the video.
Watch it below.
“I think it shows how much of an impact he had on everybody. He was kind and loving,” Chrissy said of the relationship between DeGeneres and her son.
A GoFundMe has been set up for his family during this time for funeral costs. It was originally set up to help with hospice, equipment not covered by insurance, along with mortgage and creating keepsakes. As of Saturday morning, more than $17,000 had been raised out of a $50,000 goal.
“No one really plans to bury their child,” Chrissy said, crying. “Right now, we are just taking our time to figure out the right way to honor him with so many people that love him so much.”
A celebration of life will be planned for Tayt at a later time.
Chrissy said her son always smiled. He gave 100 percent to everything that he could. He made sure the people around him were doing okay.
“I hope people remember to be like Tayt and to be kind to everyone,” she added.
RELATED | “Ellen’s Only Boyfriend” returns to show with a new heart
RELATED | “Ellen’s Only Boyfriend” Speaks Out Two Weeks After Heart Transplant