Chelsea Handler is revealing how her relationship with Jo Koy renewed her faith in men.
Despite the pair splitting in July, the 47-year-old comedian reflected on their nearly one-year relationship and how it changed her perspective on love.
"I had kind of lost my faith in men," Handler admitted to Entertainment Tonight. "And then, I got into a relationship and that faith was renewed, and it made me open-minded and open-hearted and I remain that way."
Handler added she is "grateful" for the couple's time together, which included Koy directing her new Netflix special, Revolution.
She said, "I'm glad that we did that special together. That was a great experience."
While Handler still doesn't see being in a relationship as "an end all, be all," she knows the value of finding love.
"It can be beautiful as long as you are really delivering up your best self in that relationship," she explained. "You don't want to ever have to be anybody that you're not... and everybody has the ability to make other people be better and be stronger."
The television personality also revealed what she appreciated about being in a loving relationship, sharing, "I believe in love and I love the way that love can light you up."
"I liked the togetherness and I liked the constant camaraderie and having a buddy," she said. "And I just thought, 'Oh yeah, you can find somebody that you have a lot in common with and that can work as well.'"
Last month, Handler opened up about her split from Koy after the two dated for nearly a year on Brooke Shields' Now What? Podcast.
"I really believed that this was my guy. I thought, 'Oh my God, I won.' Like I got everything. I have my career, I have respect, I have my family, I have so many friends, I have all of these things," she shared at the time. "And then I thought this was gonna be the person I spend my life with."
However, Handler realized he was "not my person" by the end of the relationship.
"There were just some behaviors that we couldn't agree on… 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," she explained. "No matter how much I loved this person — and I loved him so much — I was not going to abandon myself."
Handler and Koy were introduced by a mutual friend almost 20 years ago. Koy then went on to make regular appearances on Handler's former E! show, Chelsea Lately. The couple went public with their relationship in September 2021.
On July 18, Handler announced the couple's split on Instagram, sharing a video that was meant to be posted on their one-year anniversary.
She told Shields, "I was in a lot of pain, but it was unacceptable. I said this can't happen. Our relationship just devolved, and we both could not agree on a situation or several situations, and I thought therapy could help — it did not — and I exhausted any avenue I could think of, and then I just realized this is futile."
She noted that "walking away from him was one of the most difficult things that I have ever had to do."
Chelsea Handler: Revolution is streaming now on Netflix.
