Chelsea Handler Clarifies After Seemingly Debuting New Boyfriend

Originally appeared on E! Online

Chelsea Handler is setting the record straight on her love life.

The comedian denied she has a new boyfriend after she seemed to debut a new romance on social media on Sept. 27, dropping a John Mayer reference alongside a cozy-looking photo.

On her Instagram Story, Chelsea was seen kissing the mystery man on the cheek while he wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug. Seemingly referencing John's 2001 hit, "Your Body Is a Wonderland," the stand-up captioned the shot, "This is my baby. He is full of love and positivity and his body is my wonderland."

The 48-year-old continued, "I love my baby and now I go back to work," noting she'll be performing at the Beacon Theatre in New York City over the weekend.

However, she later shared a video on her Instagram Story clarifying they are not dating.

"Now my publicists are calling me," she said. "I did not announce new boyfriend on Instagram. That man is a bartender right next door to my house in Mallorca and that's why he's my baby."

Chelsea Handler and Jo Koy's Cutest Pics

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She explained, "Baby doesn't mean boyfriend. Baby means he is my baby because he made me so many drinks. I can't believe I have to clarify things like this."

The post came over a year after she called it quits with fellow comedian Jo Koy in July 2022.

The pair posted a video to Instagram ahead of their first anniversary, detailing the reason for the breakup. The former Chelsea Lately host shared that the former flames "decided together that it is best for us to take a break from our relationship right now."

"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," Chelsea captioned the post. "How much it still means. And how much I now believe in love for each one of us."

Addressing her ex directly, she added, "Jo- 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 in the ground."

"This is not an ending. It's another beginning," Chelsea continued, "and it's a comfort to know that I am still loved and love this man the way the sun loves the moon and the moon loves the sun."

But regardless of her relationship status, Chelsea has been putting in the work to love herself first.

"Listen, I have a really enjoyable relationship with myself for the last few years when I've realized the importance of actually spending time alone without tons of people around," she said on a July episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast. "I've actually meaningfully spent time by myself to see what was up with myself, right? And I've really, genuinely enjoyed getting to know me."

And at the time, Chelsea acknowledged why it was so important to practice self-love before dipping her toe back into the dating pond.

"I have a lot of respect for that time, where you are out of a relationship or right before you're going into a relationship, to really be mindful of that time and the space that you have, so that you can show up in a really good way for any relationship you're in, and to know when to take a timeout," she reflected. "A lot of people don't seem to know that it's time to take a break."

Editor's note: This story was originally published on Sept. 27, 2023, at 3:06 p.m. PT and updated at 7:30 p.m. PT after Chelsea Handler clarified their relationship status.

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