Portia fuels Ellen split rumours by taking off ring

They’ve been battling split rumours for months, and though Portia de Rossi and Ellen Degeneres insist their marriage is fine, new pics suggest otherwise.

Aussie-born star Portia, 44, was spotted looking strained and upset at lunch with friends, and her wedding ring was noticeably absent.

According to claims published in OK!, Portia and her TV host wife have been arguing, and not always in private.

The publication reports that some of the crew on Ellen’s hit daytime talk show have witnessed the blow-ups – leaving the star mortified.

“[Ellen] never wants people at work to know about her personal problems,” a source from the Ellen set told OK!. “It was a huge wake up call for her.”

The insider added that the fight stemmed from Portia being left “sitting at home…waiting for Ellen to spend time with her.”

The latest reports come after the couple listed two of their properties for sale – their Beverly Hills condo and Santa Barbara mansion.

The asking price for the sprawling Santa Barbara property is a whopping US$58 million, while the couple lowered the price on the condo by U$500,000 to US$7 million in the hopes of a quick sale.

Despite the 59-year-old talk show host reassuring fans that her marriage to the Australian actress is "fine", a previous report in OK! claimed that the property sales were only the start of a "sad split" for the pair.

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"They're not only headed for a divorce, but they're also secretly splitting up their assets before they make an official announcement," an insider told the publication at the time.

The source added that proceeds of the sales would go towards their final settlement, with Ellen wanting to make the split as "scandal-free as possible".