Corbin resident Reed Elliotte appears on ‘Ellen’

An 11-year-old presidential expert from Corbin, who is also a two-time cancer survivor, appeared on an episode of, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” that aired Monday.

Reed Elliotte, a fifth grader at Corbin Elementary, has been cancer free for almost five years.

Reed’s father, Bill Elliotte, said Reed beat his first bout with cancer after undergoing chemotherapy. However, when he went back for his six-month evaluation, Reed and his family were told that he had another form of cancer.

Reed then underwent surgery to remove a spot from his lung.

Before starting another round of chemotherapy, Reed, who had been saved, wanted to be baptized.

When a scan was done prior to starting the chemo, Bill said doctors told the family that the cancer was gone.

Bill said Reed, who regularly watches Ellen, was a fan of frequent guest Macy Hensley, a girl from Kansas who is also a presidential expert.

“He likes the kids that are on the show,” Bill said of Reed.

Reed had sent a video to the show earlier in the year.

“They immediately sent back something saying they wanted to do an interview,” Bill said of show runners.

With DeGeneres having previously announced that this would be the last show’s final season, Bill said show runners had found it difficult to find the right spot to have Reed appear.

“They called on Dec. 6 and asked if we could fly out on short notice,” Bill said noting that the family flew out to Los Angeles on Dec. 8 and filmed the episode on Dec. 9.

“One of the producers told us, ‘I knew within the first 30 seconds of the Zoom interview that I wanted him on the show,’” Bill said.

Instead of Ellen, Reed got to go on and talk with guest host Jojo Siwa, who appeared as a child on the Lifetime network series, “Dance Moms.”

Siwa, who has started a childhood cancer foundation, presented Reed with a check for $10,000.

“He is planning on just saving it,” Bill said of Reed.

In addition to doing the show, Bill said the family had the opportunity to go to Universal Studios’ City Walk.

Hensley, who was surprised Reed by coming out to meet him on the show, accompanied Reed and the family.

Bill said Hensley, who had turned her family’s basement into a presidential library, gave Reed a couple of items from her collection.

The family had made a previous attempt for Reed to meet Hensley several years ago.

As they were driving home from a trip out west, they arranged to go through her hometown of Council Grove, Kansas.

While Hensley wasn’t at school, the principal took the time to get her on the phone so that Reed could talk to her.

“He just loves presidents and politics,” Bill said of Reed.