De Rossi: 'Ellen saved me from anorexia'

Portia de Rossi has revealed that Ellen DeGeneres saved her from anorexia.

The 37-year-old Australian actress, who married 52-year-old chatshow host DeGeneres in August 2008, said that the relationship helped her overcome her obsessive exercising and diet of laxatives.

In an excerpt from de Rossi's new autobiography, Woman's Day magazine quotes her as saying: "Learning to be more honest is probably the biggest influence that Ellen has had on me.

"We've talked a lot about this, which is a big thing for me. Ellen has never really worried about her weight and is more on the side of feeling angry that for women to be perceived as beautiful, they need to be skinny."