Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon made a public appearance as man and wife at a belated 50th birthday party for Ellen DeGeneres.

The couple joined other star couples Paris Hilton and Benji Madden, David and Courteney Cox Arquette and Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson at the bash, held on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, where DeGeneres tapes her daily show.

Bosses at the studio created a carnival for the chat show host, complete with a ferris wheel, bumper cars and a carousel, while Pink and Lindsay Lohan’s rumoured girlfriend Samantha Ronson provided the event's music.

It was one of Carey and Cannon's first events as a married couple. The pair wed in secret at the singer's Bahamas retreat at the end of last month.

Carey will make her first TV appearance since marrying Cannon on DeGeneres' show Ellen on Tuesday.