LOS ANGELES – "Ally McBeal" star Portia de Rossi is head over heels for her girlfriend Francesca Gregorini – but they did not get hitched in a secret lesbian wedding.

London's Daily Star reported that de Rossi exchanged vows with Gregorini, the stepdaughter of Ringo Starr, at de Rossi's 29th birthday party last week. But de Rossi's publicist, Heidi Schaefer, denied that the couple got married, according to the New York Post's Page Six.

"There was no ceremony," Schaefer said. "There was a cake. Portia blew out the candles. [Gregorini] was there, but there was no marriage."

Asked whether de Rossi and Gregorini are lovers, Schaefer said, "They are friends, yes."

Sources say de Rossi, who plays man-chasing lawyer Nelle Porter on the hit U.S. TV show, has been dating Gregorini, a singer, for six months. Their relationship became public knowledge after they were photographed kissing in Los Angeles last November.

The Australian-born de Rossi was once linked to Hugh Grant, her co-star in the 1994 movie "Sirens." At the time, according to Page Six, Grant shot down rumors of a romance by saying: "Do you understand how funny that is?"

Openly gay Francesca, 33, has an apartment in Hollywood but usually stays at de Rossi's place, the Daily Star reports.

De Rossi is the first high-profile "lipstick lesbian" to come out of Hollywood in quite some time. The ravishing blonde L'Oreal spokesmodel has the kind of willowy frame that many stars envy.