MOVE over, Oprah – there’s a new favorite in town!
Ellen DeGeneres has supplanted Oprah Winfrey as America’s favorite TV personality, according to a new Harris poll.
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” host shot to the top of the list after finishing in the bottom five for the last five years.
Oprah, meanwhile, slipped to number two, followed by “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno, who was up from sixth last year.
“House” star Hugh Laurie finished fourth, while “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart dropped to number five (from two).
David Letterman finished sixth – tied with Stephen Colbert – with Bill O’Reilly in eighth place.
Ray Romano and “The Simpsons” star Homer Simpson tied for ninth.
DeGeneres’ poll position is especially surprising considering the tough times she went through last fall.
She got into a dustup after she gave her adopted dog, Iggy, to her hairdresser -instead of returning him to the shelter as per her contract.
DeGeneres spent part of a show weeping on the air and pleading with the shelter to return Iggy to her hairdresser (and her kids), which it refused to do.
Iggy was subsequently adopted out to another family.
DeGeneres then angered striking Hollywood writers by sitting out the first day of the writers’ strike, then crossing picket lines and returning with her show a day later.
The Harris pollsters surveyed nearly 1,200 US adults from Dec. 4-12 to compile their data.