Actress Meredith Baxter has confirmed that she is a lesbian. You may remember her as Elyse Keaton, the mother from the 80s American sitcom Family Ties (sha-la-la-la). Millions of fans around the world grew up watching her as the epitome of heterosexual domestic bliss.

“It was a later in life recognition,” the actress told Matt Lauer on the Today Show Wednesday.

Baxter was the subject of much speculation in The National Enquirer recently when they ran a story about her being seen with a “female friend” on a lesbian cruise through the Caribbean.

“I didn’t want some tabloid to take the story and make it up,” said Baxter. “I wanted it to be in my own words.”

Baxter was also interviewed on radio, and said that she knew going on the cruise with her partner Nancy Locke could out her, but she went anyway.

“We live a very open life at home… Anyone who’s a friend of mine, anyone who knows and cares about me knows. It’s no secret that I’m gay, but it has been to the greater world. The reason I’m here [on the show] is because I’m saying, yes, I’m a lesbian.”

Baxter has been in a relationship with Locke for four years, has been married three times before, and has been dating women for seven years. She has also come out to her five children, who were very happy for her, “because she finally figured it out.”

Watch the Family Ties theme here: