Portia de Rossi 'Didn't Want' to Be Gay (VIDEO)
Actress Portia de Rossi made headlines this week with a new interview in which she claims she "didn't want" to be a lesbian and struggled with an eating disorder as a result of hiding her sexuality. De Rossi has been with partner Ellen DeGeneres since 2008.
"I just didn't want to be gay. I just didn't want to be a lesbian. I'd never met one for a start and I just thought they were strange … I just kind of thought I don't want to live like this. I don't have to. I don't need to," de Rossi told "The Conversation With Amanda de Cadenet."
De Rossi admitted that she struggled with an eating disorder in order to deal with her sexuality and lost nearly 40 pounds as a result.
"The thing that kept me company was my eating disorder. It was like a lover; it was like somebody who never ever left me. Like a thought that would always keep me excited, interested and focused. It's adrenaline," de Rossi explained.
Yet for all of her struggling, de Rossi still ended up dating and marrying DeGeneres in 2008. She has become an advocate for those figuring out their own lives.
"I really, honestly think that anybody who is openly gay and visible is powerful," she told Out magazine this year. "It doesn't matter what you do, you are impacting people."
De Rossi became a public figure during her time on the hit series "Ally McBeal" and went on to star in other hits such as "Arrested Development," which recently saw a revival on Netflix. That show brought de Rossi into contact with DeGeneres. They married in California, one of the first states to legalize gay marriage.
Watch part of the interview here:
