Ellen DeGeneres pays tribute to Portia de Rossi on their 18th wedding anniversary

Ellen DeGeneres has paid tribute to wife Portia de Rossi in a sweet social media post to mark their 18th wedding anniversary.

The chat show host marked the special occasion with a snap of herself and Ally McBeal star Portia on Instagram, as she wrote alongside it: “Happy anniversary to my favorite person in the entire world.

“I can’t believe how lucky I am that I get to spend the rest of my life with you. What an adventure we are having!!”

Ellen and Portia wed in August 2008, after starting dating in late 2004.

The 68-year-old presenter’s post was then inundated with messages from the couple’s famous friends, including Kris Jenner, who wrote: “Happy Anniversary beautiful friends we love you!!!!”

While Baywatch star Erika Eleniak commented: “Happiest Anniversary!”

And producer Andy Lassner admitted: “This just makes me happy!”

Speaking previously about her relationship with Ellen, Portia admitted it took her some time to realise - and vocalise - her feelings for The Ellen Show star.

She explained: “It took me three years to actually tell her how I felt about her, because I was on Ally McBeal at that time and I was not living as an openly gay person.

“I was closeted and very, very afraid that if I talked about being gay it would be the end of my career. So I wasn't about to then date the most famous lesbian in the world."