Portia De Rossi

Portia De Rossi, originally Amanda Rogers, was born on January 31st, 1973 in Melbourne, Australia and was raised in Geelong, Australia. At twelve-years-old she decided she wanted to be a model. After her mother had tried to talk her out of the idea, De Rossi was determined to prove that she was capable of anything, and came back to her mother's car with "good news" which was a booked modeling job. She continued to model until she graduated from high school and decided to become a lawyer. In 1993 she took a big interest in acting and was cast in a low budget film, Sirens. She continued acting and has been cast in Scream 2, Stigmata, and Cursed. Her acting career took off when she landed a role in the television series Ally McBeal. She is also known for starring in Arrested Development.

Since the start in the modeling business at age twelve, De Rossi began counting calories. At age sixteen she was also aware of the fact that she was a lesbian. Overcome by her fear of tabloids finding out her sexuality, her calorie counting progressed into anorexia and bulimia. After collapsing in Toronto at only 82 pounds, her family knew she needed help. A continuous struggle with eating and being a lesbian dragged her down. In 2004 De Rossi met Ellen DeGeneres and they began dating. De Rossi claims Ellen saved her life with her acceptance and was at her heaviest weight with her. De Rossi and DeGeneres married on August 16th, 2008.

De Rossi wrote the book about her struggles and published it in 2010. This is her first book.