US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has married her long-time partner, actress Portia de Rossi, according to the Associated Press news agency. DeGeneres' publicist confirmed reports that the couple tied the knot at their Beverly Hills home on Saturday. The presenter, 50, and De Rossi, 35, exchanged handwritten vows in a private ceremony attended by 19 guests, reported People and US magazine. The couple have been dating since December 2004. DeGeneres announced plans to wed on her talk show in May after the California Supreme Court overturned a state ban on same-sex marriage. A month later, while picking up her fourth consecutive Daytime Emmy, she said she would show "a tiny bit" of the ceremony on her daytime show.
The pair both wore clothes by designer Zac Posen and exchanged rings by Neil Lane, People reported. US Magazine said De Rossi wore a backless, light pink dress, while DeGeneres dressed in trousers, button-up shirt and vest - all in white. "They were hugging and kissing, and looked ecstatic," a witness told the magazine.
Both DeGeneres' mother and De Rossi's mother, who flew in from Australia, attended the ceremony. DeGeneres made broadcast history in 1997 when her TV alter ego came out of the closet on her self-titled sitcom Ellen, becoming the first openly gay lead
character on US prime-time network television. The presenter came out herself in the same year, and was in a relationship with actress Anne Heche until 2000.
