Ellen DeGeneres with AnHeche at a media event.

Celebrity

Anne Heche Wished for a ‘Cinderella Story’ With Ellen DeGeneres

Anne Heche and Ellen DeGeneres were in a relationship for more than three years. However, things fell apart. Here's what Heche said about wanting a 'Cinderella story.'

by Sheiresa Ngo

Published on August 13, 2022

3 min read

How Anne Heche and Ellen DeGeneres met

Ellen DeGeneres with Anne Heche at a media event.

Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche | HECTOR MATA/AFP via Getty Images

Heche told Page Six he met DeGeneres in 1997 during a Vanity fair party. She said that moment changed her life forever. “In 1997, I met Ellen DeGeneres at the Vanity Fair party and that was the night that changed my life forever,” she said.

Heche and DeGeneres were open about their love for each other during the premiere of HBO’s If These Walls Could Talk 2, reports ABC News. They spoke about how lucky they were and how much they loved each other.

At one point, DeGeneres reportedly discussed the death of Princess Diana and how short life is. She reflected on life and love and how she didn’t think she could go on if her partner died. “If Anne goes, I want to go,” she said. “That’s how strongly I feel.”

Anne Heche wanted her ‘Cinderella story’ with Ellen DeGeneres

Years later, Heche discussed her relationship with DeGeneres. She said she hoped they could have remained together. She made it clear during her interview on the Better Together With Anne and Heather podcast that she wasn’t there to “Ellen bash.”

When asked if she ever reached out to Ellen to make peace, Heche said she tried to reach out while they were together. “Every day of my life with her was reaching out to her to make peace,” she replied. “I think it was a very difficult thing for her to trust that I was a woman who could fall in love with a woman without being gay, and I think that was a lot to do.”

Heche said she tried to make the relationship easier for DeGeneres so that she could trust her and be comfortable. However, she said it wasn’t enough. Sad Heche, “Nothing would satisfy her soul.”

Heche went on to say she wished her relationship with DeGeneres had worked out. “I wanted desperately to have that relationship be the love of my life. That was my Cinderella story.”

Anne Heche said she felt ‘shut out’ during her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres

Heche said she tried to make DeGeneres a priority in the relationship. However, she said the things she cared about were pushed to the side.

“What happened was that I was, through the circumstances, was shut out from the things that I cared about,” Heche continued. “And in order to make her feel that she was being loved, I would erase those things from my past, such as acting, and replace them with things that I thought would give her a foundation.”

Heche said her friendships suffered as a result of her drifting away. “As we got further and further away from me being able to be in public the way that would please [her], I began getting further and further away from my friends and my friendships,” said Heche. “One of the things that concerned me very much was that I was beginning to feel shut off and shut down and shut away.”

According to Heche, when she told DeGeneres that she needed to have friends, she told her she didn’t want a girlfriend who needed that. “That is the day I left,” said Heche.

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