Famous TV Hosts and Their Sidekicks: Ellen, tWitch, More

Dynamic duos! It’s hard to imagine some of the biggest TV hosts carrying on without their beloved sidekicks.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show felt right at home when Stephen “tWitch” Boss joined in 2014 as its in-house DJ. Their on-screen bond later led to tWitch being featured as Ellen DeGeneres’ sidekick and announcer on Ellen’s Game of Games, which premiered in 2017.

As reports of the show’s alleged toxic on-set environment surfaced, tWitch stood by DeGeneres and came to her defense. “I’ll say this: there’s been love,” he exclusively told Us Weekly in August 2020. “Obviously there’s some things to address, but from my standpoint and from countless others, there’s been love.”

The pro dancer continued, “I’ll just leave it at that until there’s a time where we can address more publicly. There’s been love and there’ll continue to be love.”

In the mid-1990s, Andy Richter was originally hired to work on Conan O’Brien’s former series Late Night With Conan O’Brien as a writer. Richter was then bumped up to be O’Brien’s sidekick weeks before the show premiered.

Though Richter left Late Night With Conan O’Brien in 2000, he later returned to work with the comedian again in 2009 on The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien. After O’Brien was axed as the host in 2010, Richter moved to TBS with O’Brien when he nabbed a new series called Conan.

Chelsea Handler, meanwhile, had a close bond with her former sidekick, Chuy Bravo (real name Jesús Melgoza). The entertainer was a vital part of Chelsea Lately during its run on E! from 2007 to 2014.

When Bravo died in December 2019 at the age of 63 after suffering a heart attack following gastrointestinal bleeding, Handler posted a touching tribute in his honor to Instagram.

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“I loved this nugget in a big way, and I took great pleasure in how many people loved him as much as I did and do,” the comedian wrote at the time. “@chuybravo gave us so much laughter and I’ll never forget the sound of his laughter coming from his office into mine.”

Scroll down to see some of the best TV hosts and sidekick pairings over the years.

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