Portia de Rossi: Ellen DeGeneres "changed" her life

The 37-year-old actress - who has admitted to suffering from an eating disorder in the past - married the talk show host at their Beverly Hills home in August 2008 and says she has now learned to accept herself as she is.

She said: "Ellen has completely changed the way I look at life. She has made me not worry about what other people think. I`m still working on that, I have to be honest.

"She has taught me that who I am is perfectly good enough...that I don`t have to pretend to be anything other than who I am, and that`s been the most incredible gift that she`s given me."

The former `Arrested Development` star added that her relationship with the talk show host helped her overcome her anorexia.

She told Ellen on her talk show: "When I look in the mirror today I really do accept myself from head to toe. This is exactly the weight I`m supposed to be. I realised it`s taking me a long time-you can`t fit a size eight foot into a size six shoe."

Portia has recently released her autobiography `Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain` and she said she hoped it would help other people who are suffering too.

She explained: "I don`t think anyone can really understand what it`s like to suffer from an eating disorder unless they`ve actually gone through it themselves.

"I wanted to tell the story from the perspective of the person suffering and not from the healthy person`s perspective. I wanted to go back to that dark horrible time and explain why I thought I was doing the right thing, why I thought I was doing the healthy thing and making good choices for my life."

sections: Celebrities