(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Rosie O'Donnell can't believe how far off her "gaydar" was when she met her current girlfriend.

The American talk show host is dating Michelle Rounds, who she met in a Starbucks caf earlier this year. When she first laid eyes on Michelle, Rosie didn't expect her to be interested in women.

"I thought she was a 28-year-old heterosexual girl because that's what she looked like to me. And she's a 40-year-old gay woman," Rosie laughed to ABC's Nightline. "My gaydar was way off. She's really lovely we laugh a lot and my kids adore her.

"I think if I had known that she was gay, I wouldn't have been brave enough to talk to her."

Rosie features on tonight's episode of the show, with the star's new talk series also premiering this evening. The Rosie Show is being screened on Oprah Winfrey's OWN network.

The star previously presented The Rosie O'Donnell Show, which aired between 1996 and 2002. She made many references to how hunky she found Tom Cruise on the programme, but that's all changed now.

Rosie's first guest on her new series is Russell Brand, and she is enamoured with the British comedian.

"Tom knows, I sent him a little text. I said, Tommy I will always love ya, but move over, Russell Brand is in,'" she laughed. "You know, a girl has got to do what a girl has got to do. But I think he is just lovely." (C) Cover Media