Is She Ellen’s Next Best Friend? 

When Leslie Ezelle hit TV screens on this season of HGTV’s Design
Star, she was an instant fan favorite. It’s
not every day you meet an interior designer who’s a former Dallas Cowboys
cheerleader, mother of four, and breast cancer survivor who has lived everywhere
from Mississippi to the Philippines, and who just happens to also have a wife
named Libby.

The Texas-based Ezelle didn’t win Design Star, but she came out triumphant from the series
nonetheless. Named an honorary chairperson for Susan G. Komen’s Race for the
Cure organization, Ezelle just spent October (National Breast Cancer Awareness
Month) helping raise tens of thousands for the organization, which garnered her
the “privilege of being named hometown hero” by Dallas-based TV station KDFW.
Her biggest project last month: creating a 2,600-pound, 14-foot-tall bullet bra
sculpture with the catchphrase “You Can’t Strap a Good Woman Down.”


This busy lesbian mom (her wife is partner at a prominent Dallas financial
firm) has a devilish wit (she follows up “I had not been on the bottom once”
with a ba-da-bing “that’s what he said,” for example) that’s nearly as
distracting as her amazing physique. Ezelle talked with us about pillow fights,
moody kids, becoming the Modern Family of design shows, and the destiny she and Ellen DeGeneres share.

The Advocate: Tell me
about that amazing bra sculpture.
Leslie Ezelle: I designed and help sculpt a huge 1950s metal strappy bra, hanging from the
tree of life, weighing 2,600 pounds. This Madonna-like bra is named Ann-e
Girl after my kids’ aunt, who died of
breast cancer. It toured Dallas, including a visit to Dallas City Hall, where
the mayor did a proclamation about the bra, officially “Turning Dallas Pink” in
honor of breast cancer awareness month. Ann-e Girl visited various cities and tourist sites, leaving a
trail of pink in her path, to eventually land at the finish line of the Race
for the Cure — to be greeted by over 30,000 runners! Now that Breast Cancer
Awareness Month has come to a close, this sculpture is moving on to other
organizations that help deal with the struggles of women trying to overcome
adversity.