Anne Heche is opening up about why she stormed off the set of "Dancing with the Stars" this week following her elimination from the show, acknowledging that it had to do with her 20-year-old romance with Ellen DeGeneres.
Before what would be her final dance on the show, Anne spoke about how her highly-public relationship with Ellen from 1997 to 2000 essentially got her blacklisted for a while.
"The honest truth is that it took 20 years to process and share that story, so finally, telling it and being voted off on the same night was not the best feeling," Anne told Page Six. "It did feel good to tell my story to show that we have come a long way, and we see things with more acceptance now – even though we are not all the way there yet, it's important to recognize how far we have come."
While on "DWTS," Anne told her partner, Keo Motsepe, that her life changed due to the romance, noting that it cost her roles in blockbuster films.
"My story is a story that created change in the world, moved the needle for equal rights forward," she said. "In 1997, I met Ellen DeGeneres at the Vanity Fair party and that was the night that changed my life forever. My movie premiere for 'Volcano,' I had told them that I was taking Ellen as my date and I was told if I took Ellen I would lose my Fox contract. At that moment, she took my hand and said, 'Do what they say,' and I said, 'No thanks.'"
Anne was determined to have Ellen by her side that night.
"I took Ellen to the premiere and I was ushered out by security before the movie even ended and was told I was not allowed to go to my own after-party for fear they would get pictures of me with a woman," she said. "I was in a relationship with Ellen DeGeneres for three-and-a-half years and the stigma attached to that relationship was so bad that I was fired from my multimillion-dollar picture deal and I did not work in a studio picture for 10 years."