Chelsea Handler and Jo Koy’s Relationship Timeline

Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Chelsea Handler and Jo Koy: A Timeline of the Comedians’ Relationship

Comedians in love? Chelsea Handler knew Jo Koy for nearly 20 years before they started dating — but their romance happened right on time.

During an October 2021 episode of her “Dear Chelsea” podcast, Handler admitted that she may have had feelings for Koy when he was a regular guest on her late-night talk show, Chelsea Lately, which ran on E! from 2007 to 2014, but she “suppressed” them.

“By the way, who gives a s–t?” the Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea author said. “Look where we are now. I would’ve ruined it if I had those feelings earlier, probably.”

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During their time working together on Chelsea Lately, the host was often combative with Koy. Now, however, she believes it was her just being unable to express how she really felt for the standup comic.

“In retrospect that was my version of flirting,” Handler told E! News on the red carpet of the People’s Choice Awards in December 2021. “I think I was so out of touch with my own emotions that that was my currency.”

She added, “He keeps telling me that I’ve been in love this whole time and didn’t know it so I’m just choosing to believe that.”

The New Jersey native also believes that the only reason she’s been able to make things work with the Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-American Combo writer is because she chose to focus on herself first.

“I think you have to be healthy to get healthy, so I had to really dig deep and get my stuff sorted out and then all of a sudden I saw him through a completely different lens,” she said in December 2021. “I was like, ‘Wait a second — that’s my guy, I think.’”

Finding love with Koy made the My Horizontal Life author believe that it’s possible to find “The One” — and she wants her fans to believe it too.

“For everyone who is still looking for their person, do not adjust who you are or make yourself smaller to find them. Be patient and never settle for anything less than you deserve,” the Girls Behaving Badly alum wrote via Instagram in November 2021. “Your person is coming and sometimes — they’ve been standing in front of you the whole time.”

Ahead of their first anniversary in July 2022, however, Handler confirmed that the twosome hit pause on their romance.

Handler previously dated TV executive Ted Harbert from 2006 to 2010, before moving on with hotelier André Balazs in 2011. The two broke up two years later. She was also linked to rapper 50 Cent in 2010. Koy, meanwhile, shares son Joseph Herbert Jr. with ex-wife Angie King.

Keep scrolling to read more:

Credit: Courtesy of Chelsea Handler/Instagram

2007-2014

The two met on the set of Handler’s E! late-night series Chelsea Lately in which Koy was a frequent guest.

Credit: Courtesy of Chelsea Handler/Instagram

June 2021

Rumors that the funny duo were an item started swirling after Handler began posting videos hanging out with the Washington native on her social media.

Credit: Courtesy of Chelsea Handler/Instagram

September 2021

The Chelsea Does star teased via Instagram that she had a special someone in her life — but didn’t say who the lucky guy was.

“Just sitting here in Mallorca thinking about how grateful I am to have so many people that I love in my life, to live the life I do and to be going on tour doing what I love. And that I’m finally in love, with the best kind of guy there is.” she captioned a photo of herself. “There is hope for everyone! That kind of stuff.”

Credit: Courtesy of Chelsea Handler/Instagram

September 2021

Handler made her relationship with Koy Instagram official by posting a photo of the two of them kissing.

Credit: Sean Gallagher/NBC

October 2021

It took Handler nearly 20 years to see Koy as more than a friend — and boy, is she glad she did.

“One day, I just looked at him and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s my guy!’” she said during an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “So he’s like my best buddy, and then I also, you know, get to have sex with him. … Fun time!”

Credit: Courtesy of Chelsea Handler/Instagram

October 2021

“I love her, man. She’s amazing. She’s a boss. She’s incredible,” Koy told Good Morning Washington. “Nothing better than to be in love with someone that you have been friends with for a long time. She’s got my back, and I’ve always had hers.”

He added, “It just feels good to finally find love and it’s with a person I’ve loved for a long time.”

Credit: Courtesy of Chelsea Handler/Instagram

November 2021

Handler gushed via Instagram that Koy “renewed my faith in men” for loving her for who she is.

“Do you know how hot it is to have a man be turned on by my honesty, strength, and confidence?” the Are You There, Chelsea? alum wrote. “Someone who loves the fact that I’m not going to take anyone’s s–t and isn’t intimidated or emasculated by my fierceness?”

Credit: Courtesy of Chelsea Handler/Instagram

November 2021

Handler posted a throwback clip via Instagram of her encouraging Koy to talk about the ins and outs of his sleep apnea in case his “future wife” is listening. When the Metal Shop Masters host notes that he “could die” from the condition, Handler tells him, “No, you won’t. Not on my watch.”

The back-and-forth felt very apropos to the Chelsea host. “We filmed this before we started dating,” she captioned the post. “Who had the real crush here? This was shocking for me to see.”

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December 2021

The twosome made their red carpet debut at the 2021 People’s Choice Awards where Handler told E! correspondent Laverne Cox that she was the one who initiated their romance.

“I had to make the moves. He’s too polite and he’s a gentleman,” the Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang author revealed. “Finally, I said, ‘Jo, what’s the deal? Do you have a crush on me or don’t you?’ And then I moved in on him.”

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April 2022

Koy adorably fixed Handler’s hair while they posed for red carpet photos at the Grammy Awards. The comedian gushed to Entertainment Tonight about their “incredible year” together, saying, “Love brings out the best in everybody. It’s nice when a man can see a woman and just feel seen. You know, somebody sees everything about you and loves you in spite of it and you don’t have to shrink or make yourself less intimidating or any of that.”

Credit: Courtesy of Chelsea Handler/Instagram

June 2022

“A couple of years ago I wrote a letter to myself, asking for what I was looking for in a partner, and I got it all. (Well, except one.),” Handler gushed via Instagram. “Happy birthday, to my guy! I love you to the moon and then over to the sun, and back. You’re the sweetest @jokoy.”

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July 2022

Handler shared a pre-recorded video that the duo made for their first anniversary — and subsequently revealed that they called it quits ahead of the milestone.

“It is with a heavy heart to announce that we have decided together that it is best for us to take a break from our relationship right now,” she explained on July 18. “I know many of you were invested in our love, and I wanted to express to you how much that meant to both of us. How much it still means. And how much I now believe in love for each of us.”

Handler went on to gush about how Koy changed her “life forever.”

“You blew my creativity open, my lust for working hard again, being on the road again, and you reminded me who I was and always have been, and my feet have never been more firmly planted on the ground,” she wrote. “This is not an ending but another beginning. It is a comfort to know that I am still in love and love this man the way the sun loves the moon and the moon loves the sun.”

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August 2022

“We’re great friends and that’s how it will always be. I’ll always champion for her and she’ll always champion for me — and we’re gonna win, everyone wins,” Koy told Entertainment Tonight, noting that the former couple were transitioning back into a friendship. “It’s great. It’s always been that way, so it’s the next chapter.”

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December 2022

During an interview on Brooke Shields‘ “Now What?” podcast, Handler detailed what went wrong in her relationship with Koy. “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,” the comedian explained. “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.”

Handler added that she and her ex tried couples therapy, but their efforts to save the romance were “futile,” adding: “Walking away from him was one of the most difficult things that I ever had to do.” She also revealed that she hasn’t spoken  to Koy in a while. “There has to be some accountability … from him about what happened because it was just ridiculous, and I don’t think we can have a friendship until there’s some accountability and some responsibility taken,” she explained. “We had a really great friendship, and I would love to have that again, but without a couple steps in the right direction, I don’t see that happening.”