Comedian Ellen DeGeneres says coming
out gay was the greatest thing that ever happened to her.
The 54-year-old host of the syndicated
talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show made the comment during a
Makers.com
video profile.
In 1997, DeGeneres came out gay on the
cover of Time magazine and so did the character she played on
her ABC sitcom Ellen.
“I was really successful, but I was
really just playing a part,” DeGeneres said. “And then I'd go
home and I'd let a little bit of me out, you know, and have a
girlfriend. But the other part of the life was just trying to please
everybody else. 'Cause God forbid they find out who I really am.”
“I just was carrying around this
sadness inside and the shame of the fact that I was gay. When I was
like, 'Why am I ashamed of who I am?'”
“My manager at the time said, 'Well
if you're going to come out, why don't we make it really interesting.
Why doesn't your character come out.' And it was the greatest thing
that ever happened to me.” (The video is embedded on this page.
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DeGeneres married actress Portia de
Rossi in 2008.