Anderson Cooper opens up about ‘weird’ arrangement with ex-boyfriend: ‘We still live together’
Anderson Cooper and Benjamin Maisani. (Andrew H. Walker/WireImage)
Anderson Cooper opened up about living with his ex-boyfriend to co-parent their son Wyatt Morgan.
The CNN journalist appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday (10 February) to chat family while shrugging off rumours that he might get back together with his ex, Benjamin Maisani.
Cooper, 53, described nightlife entrepreneur Maisani as a “great parent” to nine-month-old Wyatt. “We actually still live in the same house because we get along really well and, yeah, it’s weird but it works out,” Cooper explained.
“It’s interesting, he wasn’t really sure he wanted to have a kid — which is one of the reasons we probably broke up — but then he came around to the idea, and now he is such a great parent.
“We went to take Wyatt to get some vaccinations, you know, the regular course that kids get — he hasn’t skipped the line for COVID or anything, these are just the regular vaccinations — and Wyatt doesn’t cry when he gets his shot.
“But I turned around when Wyatt got his first shot, and Benjamin is weeping. He’s become this, like, big softie. It’s really sweet to see.”
Host Ellen DeGeneres then joked: “Maybe y’all will get back together?” Prompting Cooper to definitively hit back: “No, that’s not gonna happen!”
Anderson Cooper asked ex-boyfriend Benjamin Maisani to co-parent for a touching reason
Anderson Cooper and Benjamin Maisani dated for around nine years and, for the most part, ducked out of the way of press interviews and paparazzi.
After keeping their love largely on the low, Cooper revealed in 2018 that they had called it quits.
Anderson Cooper shared snapshots of he and his baby boy, Wyatt, together in a heartfelt Instagram post. (Instagram)
But Cooper asked Maisani to co-parent Wyatt, who was born via a surrogate in the midst of the pandemic, last year. The reason for this, he told SiriusXM, was a rather emotional one.
“I don’t really have a family, and so my friends become my family,” Cooper explained.
“This is somebody I was involved with for ten years, he’s a great guy, we didn’t work out as a couple, but I want somebody [involved].
“When I was a little kid, it was just my mum and my brother, and I wish some adult after my dad died had stepped in and been like, ‘I’ll take you to a ball game,’ or, ‘Let’s go out to lunch.’ No one ever did that.
“So, I thought, if something happens to me, or even if something doesn’t happen to me, if more people love my son and are in his life, I’m all for that. My ex is a great guy, and I think it’s good to have two parents if you can.”
