WATCH: Ellen DeGeneres Thought She Would Never Come Out

Ellen DeGeneres came out in 1997, both on the cover of Time magazine and on her sitcom Ellen, where a young actress named Oprah Winfrey played her therapist. 18 years later, the two TV icons team up again to discuss Ellen's decision to come out and the fears she had surrouding it.

"I certainly didn't ever that I was going to come out. Period," DeGeneres says on Oprah's Master Class. "And I didn't think I'd be coming out on a show, ever."

DeGeneres feared she would lose her fame and success if she came out, and that people would stop loving her. It was only after having an "inner dialogue with my subconcious mind" that Ellen realized she didn't want to pretend to be someone else in order for people to like her.

Check out the clip from Oprah's Master Class below:

Les Fabian Brathwaite--master classy.