Rosie O'Donnell Denies Split Rumour

TV host ROSIE O'DONNELL has laughed off reports she is splitting up with girlfriend KELLI CARPENTER - and has slammed the journalist who started the rumour.

It was reported on Monday (30Jun08) that the actress and comedienne had split with long-time partner Carpenter.

The New York Post's gossip columnist Cindy Adams wrote: "Rosie O'Donnell and Kelli Carpenter, the handsome blond gal Rosie calls her wife, may not be so together anymore.

"Whatever other difficulties such a breakup might cause, there is also a houseful of adopted kids they're raising."

But O'Donnell has hit back at the claim, taunting Adams by saying she is "a lesbian but she doesn't know it yet", reports Fox News.

A spokesperson for O'Donnell joked: "She's going to leave Kelli for Cindy Adams."

O'Donnell, 46, and Carpenter, 41, wed in 2004, but the marriage was nullified by a Californian court.

They have adopted children Parker, 13; Chelsea, 11; and Blake, eight, and biological daughter Vivienne Rose, five.