Ellen DeGeneres & Portia de Rossi

How They Met

Portia de Rossi met Ellen DeGeneres in 2000 and although there was chemistry, she didn't pursue it. Portia said in an interview in The Advocate "I ran into Ellen at a photo shoot [in 2004] and she took my breath away. That had never happened to me in my life, where I saw somebody and [experienced] all of those things you hear about in songs and read about in poetry. My knees were weak."

Their Relationship Begins

Ellen and Portia began their relationship in December 2004, after seeing each other again at VH1's Big in '04 awards show.

Ellen's Past Loves

Ellen DeGeneres dated Anne Heche and Alexandra Hedison before meeting Portia.

Portia's Past Loves

Portia dated Francesca Gregorini for two years before she met Ellen.

Marriage and Children?

Ellen DeGeneres said in People magazine about marriage, "If it were legal, we would be married, but it's not legal. I hate politics, but I think everyone should be treated equally. If I die tomorrow, everything's taken away."

Ellen announced on her show on May 16th, 2008: "Yesterday, if you haven't heard, the California Supreme Court overturned a ban on gay marriage. So I would like would like to say, right now for the first time, I am announcing I am getting married." The audience gave her a standing ovation and the camera panned to a shot of Portia, clapping and smiling. Ellen continued, "It's something that of course, we've wanted to do and we want it to be legal and we're just very, very excited."

Portia said in the Advocate when asked about marriage, "Well, I have to be asked, I guess. But I love the idea of marriage. I think it's beautiful. I'm such a romantic, and I always have been."

Will Ellen & Portia have children? "Never say never," Ellen said in People. "When I'm around babies, I just melt."

Ellen & Portia's Love Quotes:

• Ellen said in People, "We were just supposed to be together."
• Portia gushed about Ellen in the Advocate, "Just being a couple - being able to walk down a red carpet holding her hand, that's exciting for me. I respect her so much. She was so courageous and so loud in '97, and now she is doing something that is more subliminal. She's changing the world, she really is, and it's exciting to be a part of that.
• In the Advocate Ellen said, "I could say the same thing I've said in every relationship: I'm happy. But there's happiness and there's love, and then there's completion."