Portia says being a closet lesbian made her anorexic

Image: Snapper Media

Portia DeGeneres has revealed that the pressure of being a closeted lesbian contributed to her anorexia while working on Ally McBeal.

The Aussie actress, who weighed just 40kg (90lbs) at the height of her illness, is married to chat show host Ellen DeGeneres, but back in the days of playing Nell Porter in the US TV series, she was desperate to keep her sexuality a secret from the public.

In an interview with Women's Weekly magazine, the 37-year-old has told how "it took a long, long time for me to think I had a problem”.

"I was around 90 pounds and I remember feeling very afraid of food every night. I didn't want to walk past pizza restaurants because that would make me remember what it was like to eat pizza, and I was truly afraid that I was going to be overcome with the urge to binge."

Talking about how she fell for Ellen, Portia, who was born in Melbourne, said it happened at a photoshoot in Hollywood.

"My knees went weak and I felt like I was shot through the heart with an arrow," she said.

Portia said they didn't get together at that time because she was still not comfortable to publicly reveal her sexuality.

"We both really, really liked each other and there was definitely a lot of chemistry there, but it was a ridiculous thought for me to be closeted and terrified of being discovered, and then date the most famous lesbian in the world."

The pair finally got together in December 2004 and married in 2008.

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User comments

Love your post Simon...Danni seems to know more about Portia than she does herself! I have never met any woman who suddenly become gay after a violent attack...you r born gay or u ain't. It's interesting how gayness is seen by some as changeable and a choice, or even, a fad. Imagine if heterosexuality was seen like that too - the world would be a much more tolerant place.

I am so glad you shared your vague recollections as fact Danni. Surely the timeline in your brain is more accurate than hundreds of pictures at the time that validate what Portia is saying regarding her weight loss. And your suggestion that she is only a lesbian, or that a lot of women are lesbians, because a man viloated her is ignorant.

Hmmm, I recall her looking very healthy and proportionate on Ally-McBeal, certainly not underweight and it was only AFTER the show when hearing about her sexuality rumours that I remember seeing a disturbing photo of her wasting away. I am wondering if something violent happened to her after leaving Ally McBeal because a breakdown like that reminds me of other female victims who go off men for good. I'm sorry but her weight-loss seemed to happen in a short space of time and for her to say that her anorexia was suddenly brought on in her late twenties by the stress of being in the closet, I just don't buy it. I know I have no clue what she really thinks or feels and am being terribly generic.

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