Showbiz

De Rossi: 'Being a lesbian caused anorexia'

Published Thursday, Oct 28 2010, 02:37 BST | By Tom Eames

Portia de Rossi has revealed how the "shame" of being a lesbian caused her weight to drop to as low as 40kg.

The Australian actress, now named Portia DeGeneres after marrying comedienne Ellen, spoke to Women's Weekly about her struggle with her sexual identity.

She revealed: "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 and that if I started bingeing then I just wouldn't stop."

The former Ally McBeal star also explained how she was "terrified" about coming out as a lesbian after meeting the talkshow host.

She said: "I had such a long way to go before I could even be seen in public with a woman, much less be seen in public with that one."

The pair married in August 2008.