American actor Anne Heche is looking back at her relationship with comedian Ellen DeGeneres and how she suffered greatly as a result of it.
During an episode of Dancing with the Stars, the 51-year-old detailed her past romance with the talk show host from nearly twenty years ago, to pro partner Keo Motsepe, as reported by People.
"In 1997, I met Ellen DeGeneres at the Vanity Fair party and that was the night that changed my life forever,” said Heche.
"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,” she recalled.
"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,” she said.
"She was warning me, 'This is going to happen’. 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 10 years,” she added.
The two had dated from 1997 till 2000.