Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are sharing their love story in People. The pair were introduced at a Rock the Vote concert, and the 48-year-old de Rossi recalled: “I remember thinking that she was the coolest, most fascinating, beautiful, funniest person I'd ever met. But I, at the time, was closeted; I really wasn't comfortable with my sexuality. I just knew that being with her would be a bit of a thing for me, so we didn't get together after that for about three years.”
DeGeneres said of their later meeting: “We saw each other and started talking, and that was it. She opened up and said she'd been thinking about me. And it surprised me. It was a big deal for her to be seen with me. The very first time we were photographed together was when I joined her at the Golden Globes after-party. And that's when everyone knew that we were together.”
De Rossi and DeGeneres married in 2008 after same-sex marriage was legalized in California. De Rossi said of her bond with DeGeneres: “I just got to a point where I chose love over anything else. This was a once-in-a-lifetime feeling. And Ellen really did help me through it just by being there and making me feel more comfortable about who I am — like there was nothing wrong with being gay. I think that's the first time in my life I felt that was true.”