NEWSChelsea Handler Felt She 'Had No Choice' But to Break Up With Ex Jo Koy Due to His 'Outdated' Views: 'I Would Have Compromised My Value System'
Chelsea Handler and Jo Koy have been friends for more than 20 years.
Chelsea Handler opened up on what went wrong in her relationship with ex-boyfriend Jo Koy.
On a recent installment of Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, Handler admitted she'd been "really in love" with the comedian, but she felt she "had no choice" but to end their relationship after realizing they had contrasting views on certain subjects.
Chelsea Handler and Jo Koy's relationship ended in 2022.
"I felt like it was a decision between having a relationship and being full-on or choosing myself and my sanity — sanity is an overstatement — but I would have compromised my own value system," she shared. "What I thought was a mature healthy relationship and what he thought was a mature healthy relationship were two different things."
Handler explained she would have had to a make concessions on "everything I stand for" and she "wasn't willing" to do that for the sake of their roughly one-year romance.
Joy Koy and Chelsea Handler's relationship was confirmed in 2021.
"We had a couple of instances where it was obvious that we had different ideas about togetherness and the amount of time we would spend together and the expectations of me as his girlfriend, which to me were very outdated, old-fashioned and not going to work," she noted.
Despite things not panning out, the television host confessed she learned valuable lessons from their romance, including how to be "vulnerable" with a partner and that she was "capable of accepting love."
- Chelsea Handler Says Her Split From Jo Koy Was 'the First Mature Ending to a Relationship That I Was In': 'My Behavior Was Graceful'
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- Chelsea Handler Declares She's No Longer Talking About Split From Jo Koy: 'It's Run Out Of Gas'
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Chelsea Handler admitted her and Joy Koy's views didn't always align during their romance.
Handler also said Koy came into her life romantically at a time when she "needed to be reminded" of her "strength and power" and he "reinstalled" that in her.
"The biggest takeaway from that relationship was A, that I was able to be in love in a vulnerable, mature, healthy way and that when I realized it wasn’t going to work out, I was able to end it in a healthy, mature way and not divulge all of the stuff and the ugliness that may have happened in between because I didn’t want to focus on that," she revealed.
"I didn’t for one second doubt any of my decision-making," added Handler.
Chelsea Handler claimed Jo Koy reminded her of her 'strength' during their relationship.
As OK! previously reported, Handler and Koy had been friends for more than 20 years before they sparked rumors of romance. In September 2021, it was confirmed they were dating. However, the pair eventually called it quits in July 2022.
"This man blew my heart open with love and because of him, my life experience has changed forever," Handler wrote at the time via social media. "To be loved and adored by @jokoy has been one of the greatest gifts of my life."
