Actress Anne Heche has opened up about
how her romance with Ellen DeGeneres hurt her acting career.
Heche is currently competing on Dancing
with the Stars. In a sneak peek at Monday's episode, Heche talks
with pro partner Keo Motsepe about her relationship with DeGeneres.
“In 1997, I met Ellen DeGeneres at
the Vanity Fair party and that was the night that changed my
life forever,” Heche said.
“My movie premiere for Volcano,
I had told them that I was taking Ellen as my date and I was told if
I took Ellen I would lose my Fox contract. At that moment, she took
my hand and said, 'Do what they say' and I said, 'No thanks.' I took
Ellen to the premiere and I was ushered out before the movie even
ended and was told I was not allowed to go to my own after party for
fear that they would get pictures of me with a woman."
“I was in a relationship with Ellen
DeGeneres for three-and-a-half years and the stigma attached to that
relationship was so bad that I was fired from my multi-million dollar
picture deal and I did not work in a studio picture for ten years,”
she added.
Heche and DeGeneres split in 2000.
Heche has said that all of her other romantic relationships have been
with men. DeGeneres is married to actress Portia de Rossi.