Already have an account?
Get back to the

How Rosie O’Donnell Met Her Girlfriend Elizabeth Rooney (Exclusive)

Rosie O’Donnell is in love! The 55-year-old comedian met her girlfriend, a 33-year-old police officer named Elizabeth Rooney, at a theater benefit, a source exclusively tells Us Weekly. They didn’t cross paths again until a year later at the same annual event.

Related: Celebrity Couples and How They First Met: Love Story Beginnings

The SMILF star first revealed that she was dating Rooney during an interview on The Howard Stern Show on November 6. “I am in love,” she gushed. “It’s the first time I’ve dated someone younger than me and it’s a very trippy thing. … I get along with her so well. It’s kind of fascinating. The one thing that she doesn’t know? [Barbra] Streisand. I made her watch Funny Girl. She’s like, ‘It was good.’ I’m like, ‘Come on!’”

Related: Gay Celebrities’ Coming Out Stories

O’Donnell, who was previously married to Kelli Carpenter from 2004 to 2007 and Michelle Rounds from 2012 to 2016, doesn’t see herself walking down the aisle again, though. “I will not, ever,” she told Stern. “I would rather stay in it for love and not deal with lawyers if, God forbid, it doesn’t work out.”

The former View panelist also opened up to Extra about her new romance. “I’ve been dating a woman who’s a police officer from Worcester and she’s on the mountain division, so she rides a horse every day,” she said in November. “She was in the Army for eight years. She was an undefeated boxing champion in the Army. … We are both huge UFC enthusiasts. It’s fun to have someone to watch it with because nobody in my house cared. She’s wonderful.”

Related: Celebrity LGBT Allies

O’Donnell shares four children with Carpenter: Parker, 22, Chelsea, 20, Blake, 18, and Vivienne, 15. She also shared daughter Dakota, 4, with Rounds, who died by suicide at age 46 on September 11.

In this article

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!