Ellen DeGeneres started eating fish in "retaliation" for a lack of 'Finding Nemo' sequel.

Ellen Degeneres

Ellen Degeneres

The 58-year-old comic - who reprises her voice role as forgetful blue tang Dory in 'Finding Dory' - gave up eating all animal products in the years after the 2003 Pixar movie and joked she had waited so long to be asked to return to the series, she expanded her diet and started dining on its subject matter in revenge against the filmmakers.

Speaking at a press conference in support of the new film in London on Monday (11.07.16), Ellen said: "When we did 'Nemo' I was eating fish, and then I became a vegan for most of those years.

"And then I just started recently eating fish, [which was] retaliation for no sequel."

However, Ellen insists she only "rarely" eats fish and doesn't enjoy it when she does.

She added: "I don't eat blue tang, and I rarely eat fish. I don't eat meat or anything, but I don't really enjoy eating fish."

Ellen credits her talk show for helping get the sequel made as she was able to campaign for a fishy follow-up in front of a TV audience of millions on a daily basis.

Asked if she regularly bombarded film bosses with messages about the sequel, she said: "I had a talk show I didn't need email. I had a platform that was so easy to do. Had I not had a talk show we would not be sitting here today, I don't think."

But now the film has finally been made, Ellen is worried she needs to find new jokes to fill her show.

She quipped: "It really just became content for the show, because every sequel that came out, every other movie it was just like, 'Oh my God - are you kidding me?'

"And then it became a running joke, and now my joke is over, because he [Andrew Stanton the film's writer and director] did the movie. so now I have no more jokes."

'Finding Dory' is out in the US now and will be released in the UK on 29 July.

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