Crystal Swing singer Derek Burke has become the latest A-lister to voice his support for Ellen DeGeneres, after her popular chat show was accused of having a “toxic workplace environment”.
The show is currently undergoing an internal investigation by WarnerMedia, after BuzzFeed News published accounts from current and former staff members.
Crystal Swing – compromised of Derek, his mother Mary and his sister Dervla – famously appeared on the show back in 2010, with Derek describing Ellen as “really sound”.
“From our perspective, we couldn’t have been looked after better and that is the honest truth,” he told the Sunday World.
“They were as sound as a pound, everything like,” the Cork native added.
“They were really, really lovely, as in production-wise, and Ellen – not a bother with any of them.”
Crystal Swing became an internet sensation, after their video cover of American country duo Lorrie Morgan and Sammy Kershaw’s 2001 hit He Drinks Tequila went viral.
“The thing about it was with us, Ellen initially wanted us on the show on St Patrick’s Day,” Derek revealed, “It was gas at the time to say ‘Oh no, look we’re not available on that date’.”
“We’d be on The Late Late Show one night, then doing a radio show the next day over the phone, we might have to be in studio again for RTÉ for some other show and then we’d be out playing that night.”
“We were going from one thing to another. I suppose at the time when the Ellen show got on to us we were booked to play somewhere for Patrick’s night.”
“She kept on saying ‘I want them on the show’, so they rearranged for a date that would suit.”
Opening up about his whirlwind fame, Derek revealed: “I was always playing away – but I would never have sampled that lifestyle where you’re meeting so many celebrities and people are wanting your autographs and that kind of stuff.”
“When we got catapulted into fame overnight, it was a new world for us and a new adjustment.”
“We went to LA and we were treated like royalty,” he continued, “We were put up in the best hotel. We met Ellen and she was lovely.
“We met Eva Longoria in the dressing room. She was getting her make-up done at the same time as we were appearing on the same episode. There were people queuing up to see her and also people who were being recorded for another episode being filmed. It was really exciting.”
“To be honest with you, we couldn’t have had more of a positive experience on that show,” the singer added, “We had a chat with her afterwards.”
“Everybody wants to chat to Ellen and to get a photograph with her. She was asking us how things were going, just general questions. We got our photos and then that was it.”
“I never saw any stress or arguments with her and her staff. If anything, it was the total opposite. It was just that everybody got on so well, everybody seemed so relaxed.”
“It was the one show that made us for the rest of our life. That really catapulted us back here, for a small band like us to actually get on a show like that, sure that made us.”
“Every day when I’d meet somebody, they’d ask ‘what was Ellen like’. All the different presenters would have asked the same – and it was always the same, she was really sound.”
“After our appearance she played one of our songs again on the show a few weeks later, so we got three hits off her,” he added.
Comedian Kevin Hart also defended the host, asking fans to stop sending “hate” towards Ellen.
“I have known Ellen for years and I can honestly say that she’s one of the dopest people on the f***ing planet,” he shared on Instagram, “She has treated my family and my team with love and respect from day 1.”
Meanwhile singer Katy Perry wrote: “I know I can’t speak for anyone else’s experience besides my own but I want to acknowledge that I have only ever had positive takeaways from my time with Ellen & on the @theellenshow.”
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#GossChats is sponsored by top Irish aesthetic clinic Haus of JeJuve.
