Ellen DeGeneres thought she was never ‘going to come out, period’ (VIDEO)
The popular TV host has discussed the fear she felt before opening up about her sexuality.
Ellen DeGeneres was one of the first public figures to come out as a gay.
However, she has recently revealed that she almost didn’t do it, saying she was scared of the reaction she’d receive.
“I didn’t think I was going to come out, period,” she says. “I didn’t think I’d be coming out on a show, ever.”
DeGeneres – who recently announced her own kids clothing range – came out on the Oprah Winfrey Show back in February 1997, and her character on her popular sitcom, Ellen, came out to her therapist (played by Winfrey) the following April.
The star discusses what went through her mind before making the revelation, in a new clip for Oprah’s Masterclass – that will air in the US tomorrow (October 25).
“It was scary and crazy and what came out of listening to what I had been saying to myself was, ‘Would I still be famous, would they still love me if they knew I was gay?’” she said.
“And my fear was that no, no they wouldn’t, and then it made me feel ashamed that I was hiding something.
“It made me feel ashamed that I couldn’t feel honest and really be who I am, and I just didn’t want to pretend to be somebody else anymore so that people would like me.”
Watch the full clip below.
The host – who has been married to actress Portia de Rossi since 2008 – recently spoke out against Caitlyn Jenner’s views on same-sex marriage, after the former Olympian appeared as a guest on her show.
“I said to her: ‘You’re wanting people to understand and accept you – this is like really confusing to people – but you still have a judgement about gay people and marriage’.
“She said ‘if the word marriage is that important’ …and I was like, ‘it is, because that’s the word!’. We want the same thing as everybody.”
