Portia de Rossi Shares Touching Story of Coming Out to Her Grandmother by Revealing Ellen DeGeneres Relationship

Portia de Rossi was interviewed by her wife Ellen DeGeneres for one of the final episodes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show and she shared the touching story of coming out to her grandmother.

The 49-year-old actress publicly came out just by being in a relationship with Ellen, and that’s also how she came out to her grandma.

“She was so special to me and she was a huge fan of Ellen. She loved the sitcom — in Australia. Loved the sitcom, wouldn’t miss an episode … until the episode where she came out,” Portia told the audience.

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She continued, “Now, I know I’m gay at this point and I love my gran, and the minute that Ellen came out she refused to watch the show. In fact, if a commercial for her show came on, she would change the channel and say ‘That disgusting woman.’”

After Portia moved to L.A. to launch her acting career, she took a trip home to Australia to visit her family, which is when her grandmother asked if she was dating anyone. Her grandma was 99-years-old at the time.

“At this point, my mom was supposed to have told Gran that I was with Ellen. And she knew that we lived together. And I said ‘Gran, I’m with Ellen.’ And she said ‘Ellen? Who’s Ellen?’ I said, ‘Yeah, you knew that I lived with Ellen,’ and she said, ‘Yes, and all this time I was worried that that lesbian was hitting on my granddaughter,’” Portia said.

She added, “So she literally put her head in her hands for 20 seconds, 30 seconds, silent, and I thought ‘That’s it. I’ve killed my grandma.’ I really thought that I did. And she just looked at me, and she goes, ‘Well, I love you just the same.’”

Ellen said that Portia‘s grandmother died at the age of 103 “with our wedding picture next to her bed.”

Check out the guest list for Ellen‘s final episodes.