Rosie O'Donnell and Michelle Rounds

Rosie O'Donnell and Michelle Rounds

Rosie O'Donnell credits her and wife Michelle Rounds' health problems for bringing them closer.

The 51-year-old talk show host suffered a heart attack in August 2012, just months after her partner was diagnosed with Desmoid tumours, a rare cancer-like disease, and she says their struggles have only strengthened their relationship.

She said: "It totally brought us closer...

"Although we've only been together for three years, it's felt like 30 because so much has happened. It's brought us so much closer."

Michelle's illness prompted the couple - who have 13-month-old daughter Dakota together - to scrap their lavish wedding plans in favour of an intimate ceremony in their home.

Speaking on 'Mondays With Marlo', Rosie - who married Michelle in June 2012 - told host Marlo Thomas: "We were scheduled to have a really big wedding on August 17 out in Long Island, right near where I grew up. We had a lot of people invited and she got sick on Mother's Day in May...

"We got married in our apartment on our own, just the two of us with the justice of the peace."


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