Rosie O'Donnell says she didn't talk
about getting engaged to girlfriend Michelle Rounds on her talk show
because she's not sure how to approach the subject of her love life.
O'Donnell, 49, announced the news to
her cabler OWN The Rosie Show studio audience in Chicago
during a commercial break on Monday.
The following day, O'Donnell told her
audience that she didn't speak up earlier because she didn't know
how.
“You know because I'm 50 it's very
strange to talk about my love life publicly,” O'Donnell said.
“Like I'm a performer but when I was on my show in '96 nobody was
really out on TV. Ellen wasn't out, right? Will & Grace
was not on. Nobody really talked about it. So, I sort of came up in
comedy without ever mentioning my love life. So, I only sort of know
how to use my right hand, right? I used to talk about my kids …
Well, now I'm allowed, because it's a whole different time, right?
You're allowed. But I don't really quite know how to do it.” (The
video is embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
This is the second marriage for
O'Donnell, who came out gay in 2002 and shares 4 children with
ex-wife Kelli Carpenter.
Us Weekly is reporting that
O'Donnell told her audience that she and Rounds, a 28-year-old New
York City headhunter, will tie the knot over Christmas.