Anne Heche claims romance with Ellen DeGeneres had devastating impact on career

She's starred in films with some of the biggest names in Hollywood and had a high profile relationship with Ellen DeGeneres and now Anne Heche is hoping to be crowned queen of the dance floor.

The actress is one of the big names to be taking part in Dancing With The Stars, the US equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing.

Volcano star Anne has said it's a "thrill" to be taking part in the show and beamed as she headed into rehearsals last week.

The 51-year-old shot to fame in blockbusters like Six Days, Seven Nights and Donnie Brasco but is best known for her relationship with talk show host, Ellen.

The pair dated between 1997 and 2000 and announced they were a couple immediately after Ellen came out as gay.

While Anne admits she no longer talks to her ex-girlfriend, she only has complimentary things to say about their time together.

She said: "When I met Ellen she was beaming light. There was nothing that could have shone brighter than who she was in the centre of that room. I’ll never forget.

"Our time was a beautiful part of my life and one that I wear with honour. I was a part of a revolution that created social change, and I could not have done that without falling in love with her."

However, Anne claims her career suffered as a result of her relationship with Ellen and the fact she had come out as gay.

The couple had met at a Vanity Fair party, shortly before Ellen's coming out episode and the premier for Anne's new film, Volcano.

She made the decision to take Ellen to the opening night of her new film but told the podcast, Irish Goodbye, that she would be "fired" from the film she had just signed up to make.

She was due to star in Six Days, Seven Nights with Harrison Ford.

Anne told the podcast: "I took Ellen, we were told that my contract for Fox would be extinguished and I would be fired. And that the movie that I had just met Harrison Ford on wouldn’t hire me. And we went to the premiere – these are the stories that I know people don’t know.

"We went to the premiere, we were tapped on the shoulder, put into her limo in the third act and told that we couldn’t have pictures of us taken at the press junket – and both she and I were fired that week.”

However, the actress found an ally in her co-star, Ford, who is widely known to have backed her keeping the role in their film.

Anne claimed he called her when he heard the news and said: "Frankly my dear, I don’t give a f*** who you’re f***ing, we have a movie to make. Let’s make it the best one ever."

The pair did go on to star together in the film, Six Days, Seven Nights, unfortunately it was not a box office success and Anne admits her career suffered in the following years, with her not making a film for the next decade.

Since then she has starred in a raft of independent films and several television series, winning both Emmy and Tony Awards.

She is has starred in the lead role in the gritty TV series, The Brave, as Patricia Campbell, and is now on our screens in Chicago PD.

Following her relationship with Ellen, Anne went on to marry cameraman, Coleman Laffoon, in 2001.

They have a son, Homer, but divorced in 2009.

Anne has a second son, Atlas, with her Men In Trees co-star, James Tupper, who she was in a relationship with until 2018.