Grab Your Person & See Ellen Pompeo’s People’s Choice Awards Speech

Grab your person, because Ellen Pompeo just won Female TV Star of 2022.

The Grey’s Anatomy star took home the top prize at the 2022 People’s Choice Awards—which took place Dec. 6 at The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif.—after being nominated alongside Stranger Things‘ Millie Bobby Brown, The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the
Window‘s Kristen Bell, Never Have I Ever‘s Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, This Is Us‘ Mandy Moore, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit‘s Mariska Hargitay, Abbott Elementary‘s Quinta Brunson and Only Murders in the Building‘s Selena Gomez.

After taking to the stage to accept her award, Ellen, who has played Dr. Meredith Grey for 19 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, thanked the fans for loving the show “so loudly.”

“On my way up to the stage, a nice guy named Zack just said to me, ‘You brought me and my mom closer together,'” she shared. “I hear stories like that every day and everywhere I go. And I think we all know that that’s the power of storytelling, it brings us together and our stories wouldn’t matter if they weren’t touching all of you. You are the reason we do it.”

Ellen then dubbed herself a “smart lady” because she agreed with Kris Jenner, who earlier in the night shared, “It is because of the fans that we’re here tonight.”

“We do have one of the greatest jobs in the world,” Ellen continued. “And we wouldn’t be able to do it without your love and support.”