British actress Joely Richardson is going gay for the upcoming season of hit TV plastic surgery drama Nip/tuck - as the lover of real-life lesbian Portia De Rossi.

The 101 Dalmatians star will lock lips with former Ally McBeal regular De Rossi after discovering her character, Julia McNamara, prefers women to men.

And the two actresses will be getting romantic in pretty impressive surroundings, according to America's TV Guide magazine - producers are recreating a suite at swanky Los Angeles hotel the Chateau Marmont on the set, as the couple's love nest.

De Rossi was announced as the latest Nip/Tuck castmate earlier this summer, while Richardson has been a regular since the pilot of the show in 2003.

The Brit was forced to take a leave of absence from the Los Angeles-filmed series last year to care for her sick daughter Daisy in London.

The fifth season of the daring drama, which stars Julian McMahon and Dylan Walsh as plastic surgeons, will debut in America in October.