DeGeneres tells of abuse

Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres, whose chat show swept the Daytime Emmy awards yesterday, reveals in the latest issue of Allure magazine that her stepfather molested her as a teenager.

She said her stepfather insisted on feeling her breast while DeGeneres' mother was fighting breast cancer. The incident later escalated into "other things" and her stepfather, now deceased, tried to break into her bedroom.

"I had to kick a window out and escape and sleep in a hospital all night long," DeGeneres said.

She said she was was speaking about what happened because "it's important for teenage girls out there to hear that there are different ways to say no. And if it ever happens to them, they should tell someone right away".

She said the abuse, which happened in her late teens, had no effect on her sexual orientation.

DeGeneres' "coming out" was featured on a 1997 Time magazine cover and as a plot in her ABC sitcom.

"People I've confided in about this before say, 'Oh, that's why you're a lesbian,"' said DeGeneres.

"But I was a lesbian way before that. My earliest memories are of being a lesbian."

The 47-year-old host of The Ellen DeGeneres Show also said she hoped she and girlfriend Portia de Rossi are "together the rest of our lives".

DeGeneres' show won five Emmys, including best chat show for the second time.

"Oh, man, I love my job," she said. "It's basically just sitting there and listening to people talking. It's like a bartender."

The other big Daytime Emmy winner was General Hospital, which received a record-setting eighth award for best drama series.