Chelsea Handler is getting candid about her breakup with comedian Jo Koy, sharing new insights into why their relationship ultimately didn’t work out.
The comedians, who first went public with their romance in 2021, announced their split in mid-2022. Though they seemed like a perfect match on paper—both hilarious, outspoken, and successful—Chelsea is now explaining why their differing views on relationships led to their breakup.
In a recent interview on the “Armchair Expert” podcast, Chelsea reflected on the dynamic between her and Jo, revealing that staying in the relationship would have meant compromising her own values.
“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 admitted.
Despite the challenges, Chelsea emphasized that she was deeply in love with Jo at the time. “What I thought was a mature, healthy relationship and what he thought was a mature, healthy relationship were two different things,” she explained. “I would have had to compromise everything I stand for, and I wasn’t willing to do that.”
One of the key issues? Their differing expectations of time spent together. Chelsea noted that their views on togetherness felt outdated and incompatible. “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and the amount of time we would spend together and the expectations of me as his girlfriend, which to me were very outdated, old-fashioned, and not going to work,” she said.
Even though the breakup was difficult, Chelsea sees it as a learning experience. “The biggest takeaway from that relationship was that I was able to be in love in a vulnerable, mature, healthy way,” she reflected. “And when I realized it wasn’t going to work out, I was able to end it in a healthy, mature way.”
She also made a point of keeping any negativity private. “I didn’t divulge all of the stuff and the ugliness that may have happened in between because I didn’t want to focus on that,” she shared. “That was a huge takeaway. I didn’t for one second doubt any of my decision-making.”
While Chelsea and Jo may no longer be together, her reflections show that sometimes, even the best connections don’t align in the long run—and that’s okay.
