Chelsea Handler is opening up about just how serious her relationship with Jo Koy was before they broke up — and how heartbreaking it was to call it quits.
As you know, the comedian couple first got together romantically last year after a long history of being friends. Sadly, they went their separate ways ahead of their one year anniversary in July. Shortly after their split, Chelsea told Glennon Doyle on her podcast the reason for their breakup was they were in two different places in their lives — though she kept things pretty vague:
“I understand the wanting to avoid that, the avoidance of wanting to look in with that and I think I’m at a place in my life that I have to be with somebody who is where I’m at with that. That’s not to say anything about Jo Koy. I love him, and he’s on his own path. If I have to choose one person, I have to choose myself.”
It does sound like they ended on good terms. But that doesn’t make it any less devastating. Now the Chelsea Lately host is giving more details on their past relationship, and it sounds like they were even more serious than we realized!
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On Brooke Shields‘ podcast Now What? on Tuesday, the comic revealed her upcoming Netflix special is very different from her past material — and part of the reason is Jo:
“I’m just so much more of a professional now, so it’s just sharp. It’s sharp, it’s funny, it’s poignant, and it’s a story. It’s a love story. It’s about me kind of losing my faith in men and kind of all the examples of why, and then finally meeting Jo Koy and renewing my faith in men, and then even, you know, after that not working out, not to shut down and close off, to not use a failed relationship or a relationship that didn’t go the distance as a reason to say, ‘F**k it. I’m single again’.”
The 47-year-old went on to say she feels like she’s finally ready for a relationship again — and because of what happened with Jo she’s open to it being a grownup, happy one:
“I’m not doing that. I do want a relationship. It’s OK for me to admit that now, like, I’ve learned and grown so much, that I got a taste of what that togetherness feels like, and I want it again.”
She says her relationship with the 51-year-old changed her mind and opened her eyes to a lot of things — including marriage:
“I’m not that hard up to get married, but I was open to the idea of it and we definitely discussed it at length, like, a lot, ’cause it was important to him. And then, towards the end of the relationship, it just became clear that this was not my person.”
They definitely discussed it at length? Whoa. That’s serious stuff!
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As for what ended such a strong connection? Well, Chelsea seems to be keeping that under wraps. But she did mention “some behaviors” became a problem:
“There were just some behaviors that we couldn’t agree on, and it felt to me like I would have to abandon myself — which maybe I would have been OK to do if I were 20 or 25 — but I wasn’t willing to do that. No matter how much I loved this person — and I loved him so much — I was not going to abandon myself. I was like, ‘I’m not going to change this, I’m not going to change the way that I behave in order to make you feel more comfortable. I’m not doing that.’ And I had to walk away from something that I really believed was gonna be a forever relationship, and so that was difficult.”
We’re glad she made the decision to stay true to herself, even if it wasn’t an easy decision to make! But what were these behaviors?? Man, she’s got us curious now…
The author admitted she and her former flame tried “any avenue” to make things work, including therapy, but in the end they just weren’t meant to be. They apparently haven’t even spoken since the breakup! Wow… However, she wouldn’t completely shut out the idea of rekindling their longtime friendship — with some “steps in the right direction”:
“I don’t think we can have a friendship until there’s some accountability and some responsibility taken. We had a really great friendship and I would love to have that again, you know, but without a couple steps in the right direction, I don’t see that happening.”
It doesn’t look like they are on as good terms as we first thought. Hmm…
It’s clear things are still very tense between the exes. And although we may never know what really happened, it’s great Chelsea was able to take some positivity and learn a lot from this relationship. What do U think, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments (below).
[Image via MEGA/WENN]
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