PORTIA DE ROSSI - DEGENERES QUITS SMOKING

American funnywoman ELLEN DeGENERES has proudly announced she's given up smoking.

The comedienne, currently dating actress PORTIA DE ROSSI, recently decided it was time to cut nicotine out of her life for good, and used ALLEN CARR's book EASY WAY TO STOP SMOKING to help her through it.

She enthuses, "I quit smoking! I've been wanting to say it but I thought I can't say, '(I quit) yesterday,' then you're gonna be, 'Oh you didn't really quit then.' It's been about two months now and I know I'm done completely.

"I was really ashamed of it. Nobody's proud of it. People smoke and I smoked, but it's a bad habit. Nobody ever announces bad habits. I'm announcing it 'cause I'm proud of it 'cause it is so hard to do. So you announce when you quit, but nobody announces when they start...

"When people would see me smoke they were shocked 'cause I don't look like a smoker and I really didn't smoke that much. I was a social smoker."