Search for "Ellen DeGeneres ex-husband" and you'll find a weirdly high number of results for someone who has famously been one of the most visible lesbian figures in the world for decades. It's one of those internet rabbit holes that never quite seems to go away. People love a "secret past," and in the age of viral TikTok theories and SEO-driven gossip, the idea that Ellen was once secretly married to a man is a narrative that just keeps resurfacing.
But here’s the thing: Ellen DeGeneres has never had a husband.
She has never been married to a man. Not in secret, not before she came out, and not as a "cover." Honestly, the confusion usually stems from a mix-up with her wife, Portia de Rossi, or a fundamental misunderstanding of her high-profile dating history in the 90s. If you're looking for the man who walked Ellen down the aisle, you're going to be looking for a very long time because that person simply doesn't exist.
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The Mel Metcalfe Mix-up: Why People Get Confused
The most common reason people search for an Ellen DeGeneres ex-husband is actually because of Portia de Rossi. Before Portia and Ellen became the "supercouple" we know today, Portia was actually married to a man.
From 1996 to 1999, Portia de Rossi was married to documentary filmmaker Mel Metcalfe. Portia has been incredibly open about this in her memoir, Unbearable Lightness. She basically admitted that the marriage was, in part, an attempt to get a green card, but also a byproduct of being a young actress who was terrified of being outed in Hollywood.
The story gets even more "daytime soap opera" than that. Metcalfe eventually left Portia for her own sister-in-law. Yeah, it was a mess. Because Portia took Ellen's last name (legally she is Portia Lee James DeGeneres), many casual fans see the "ex-husband" trivia attached to the DeGeneres name and assume it belongs to Ellen. It doesn't.
The "Beards" and the Red Carpets
Before her ground-breaking "Puppy Episode" in 1997, Ellen lived the life many closeted stars did at the time. She wasn't married, but she was occasionally seen with men to keep the rumor mill at bay.
You might see old photos of Ellen on the arm of actor Johnathon Schaech. They attended the 1995 Screen Actors Guild Awards together, looking every bit like a 90s power couple. Schaech later confirmed that he was asked to be her date to help keep her secret. He’s been cool about it since, noting that he was happy to support a friend during a time when coming out could literally end a career.
There was also a brief period where people linked her to Steve Martin, though that was more about a close friendship and mutual respect in the comedy world than any serious romantic entanglement.
The Anne Heche Era: Not a Husband, But a Whirlwind
When we talk about Ellen's exes, we have to talk about Anne Heche. While not a husband, the relationship was so seismic that it often gets conflated with a marriage in the public memory. They were together from 1997 to 2000.
It's hard to explain now just how big a deal they were. They were the first truly "out" female celebrity couple in the mainstream. When they split, the fallout was tabloid gold. Heche famously suffered a mental health crisis shortly after the breakup, wandering into a stranger's house in Fresno.
Because Heche later went on to marry a man (Coley Laffoon) and have children, some people mistakenly flip the narrative and think Ellen was the one who had the "straight" past. In reality, Ellen’s dating history following the split was focused on women, including a long-term relationship with photographer Alexandra Hedison (who later married Jodie Foster).
Why the "Ex-Husband" Myth Persists in 2026
So, why are we still talking about this? Basically, search engines and AI often hallucinate connections. If you type "Ellen DeGeneres" and "Spouse" into a search bar, you get a hit for Mel Metcalfe via Portia’s bio.
Also, there’s a segment of the internet that loves the "hidden history" trope. It’s more interesting to some people to imagine a secret 80s marriage than to accept that she was just a hard-working stand-up comic living her life.
The Real Timeline of Ellen’s Legal Unions
- 1996-1999: Portia de Rossi is married to Mel Metcalfe (The source of most confusion).
- 2004: Ellen and Portia begin dating after meeting at an awards show.
- August 2008: Ellen and Portia marry at their home in Beverly Hills.
- 2010: Portia legally changes her name to DeGeneres.
- 2023: The couple renewed their vows in a surprise ceremony officiated by Kris Jenner.
Actionable Insights: Fact-Checking Celebrity History
If you’re trying to track down the truth about celebrity marriages, don’t just trust the "People Also Ask" boxes on Google. Those are often scraped from different contexts.
- Check the Memoirs: Portia’s Unbearable Lightness is the definitive source for her past marriage.
- Cross-Reference "Spouse" vs. "Partner": Many databases list any significant long-term partner under a general "relationships" header, which leads to confusion about legal status.
- Look for Name Changes: Since Portia took Ellen's name, her legal documents from the 90s are often indexed under "DeGeneres," making it look like Ellen was the one in the 1996 marriage.
Ellen DeGeneres has plenty of controversy in her wake—from the "toxic workplace" allegations to her departure from her talk show—but a secret ex-husband isn't one of them. She has been a pioneer for LGBTQ+ visibility, and her only legal marriage has been to Portia de Rossi.
To get the most accurate picture of any celebrity’s legal history, always look for marriage license records or direct quotes from their own autobiographies rather than relying on third-party "fast facts" sites that often conflate partners' histories.