Ellen DeGeneres opens up about being bullied after coming out

Publish Date
Friday, 18 August 2017, 10:15AM

We all know and love Ellen DeGeneres' infectious happiness and her awesome dance moves, but the talk show host has opened up this week about a time in her life that wasn’t so positive.

Twenty years ago, DeGeneres publicly came out as a lesbian but, unfortunately, Hollywood was not ready to accept her.

Following her coming out, her television sitcom, 'Ellen,' was cancelled and opportunities in the entertainment industry began to disappear.

"The bullying I endured after I came out made up for the lack of it during my childhood,” she told Good Housekeeping.

"I moved out of L.A., went into a severe depression, started seeing a therapist and had to go on antidepressants for the first time in my life…It was scary and lonely. All I’d known for 30 years was work, and all of a sudden I had nothing. Plus, I was mad. It didn’t feel fair — I was the same person everyone had always known."

@PortiadeRossi and I got married 9 years ago today. Being her wife is the greatest thing I am.

A post shared by Ellen (@theellenshow) on

Luckily, tough times have since changed for DeGeneres.

She revealed that meditating, working out and writing helped her climb out of depression.

“I can’t believe I came back from that point,” she said. “I can’t believe where my life is now.”

DeGeneres now has a beautiful wife and a super successful talk show - so life is pretty good!

Yesterday, the 59-year-old and her wife, Portia de Rossi, celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary.

Ellen took to Instagram to share a cute throwback photo of their wedding, saying “being her wife is the greatest thing that I am.”

WHERE TO GET HELP:

If you are worried about your or someone else's mental health, the best place to get help is your GP or local mental health provider. However, if you or someone else is in danger or endangering others, call 111.

If you need to talk to someone, the following free helplines operate 24/7:

DEPRESSION HELPLINE: 0800 111 757
LIFELINE: 0800 543 354
NEED TO TALK? Call or text 1737
SAMARITANS: 0800 726 666
YOUTHLINE: 0800 376 633 or text 234

There are lots of places to get support.

For others, visit: https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/get-help/in-crisis/helplines/

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