Ellen DeGeneres reveals father’s challenge of having ‘an openly gay child’
The 58-year-old TV show host recently revealed how her father found her sexuality a challenge.
Speaking to HELLO! magazine, she said: ‘My parents divorced when I was young – they were very different personalities. My mother is a strong woman, sarcastic and sassy, and I learnt how to be a tough woman from her. My dad is a wonderful man but he has a lot of fear and he was overprotective of me. He didn’t want me to hurt myself so he wanted me to be nice and quiet all the time and not really argue or speak my opinion.
‘So imagine his challenge of having an openly gay child … When you’re growing up, whatever your environment is, if you don’t know any different, that is what it is. I didn’t know anything was wrong until I got older and I started doing some soul-searching and read some books. I learnt a lot of lessons the hard way, which is a beautiful way to learn them.’
Ellen, who’s one of the top 50 most powerful women, raked in an estimated earnings of US$75 million in 2015 according to Forbes.