Portia de Rossi recalls ‘coming out’ at 2005 Golden Globes

Actress Portia De Rossi will always have fond memories of the 2005 Golden Globe Awards because it was the first time she officially stepped out as a lesbian in Hollywood. Rumours about the former Ally McBeal star’s sexual orientation began surfacing in the early 2000s, during her four-year relationship with singer Francesca Gregorini, but she didn’t confirm the reports until the night of the big awards show in January, 2005 as she faced the media glare with her now-wife, comedienne Ellen DeGeneres.
During a TV interview on a special Arrested Development episode of Inside the Actors Studio, she says, “I think when I really, truly came out was the Golden Globes when Arrested Development was nominated. Ellen and I had been together for a month and I was very, very nervous going to that because I knew that I was going to meet up with her after the show, and that there was press.
“That was the first time we stepped out together as a couple, but, for me, it was the first time I stepped out as a gay woman, really.”
De Rossi had previously been married to documentary filmmaker Mel Metcalfe from 1996 to 1999.
The interview is due to air in America on Thursday night (07Nov13).