The couple announced their split on Monday after less than a year of dating
Friends of Chelsea Handler and Jo Koy are hoping they’ll rekindle their romance.
“Their friends are hoping they can still work it out,” a source tells PEOPLE exclusively. “But if anything, it’s clear their relationship has changed them both for the better.”
Handler, 47, announced the couple’s split on Instagram Monday. Sharing a video that was intended to go live on their one-year anniversary, the former Chelsea host wrote: “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.”
“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 one of us. This man blew my heart open with love and because of him, my life experience has changed forever,” she continued. “To be loved and adored by @jokoy has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. He renewed my faith in men, in love, in being 100% who I am, and I’ve never been more optimistic for the future.”
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.”
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Handler noted that “this is not an ending” but “another beginning” for the now-exes.
“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. YOUR PERSON IS COMING,” she said. “So, please continue to root for both of us, because you never know what life will bring and let’s first start by all going to the theater on August 5th to buy tickets to Jo’s new movie EASTER SUNDAY and Filipino PRIDE! Let’s go!”
In Koy’s own announcement post, the 51-year-old said the two comedians “will always remain great friends and will always have love for one another,” even after their breakup.
“I’m her biggest fan and I can’t wait for you all to see what she has in store for the future,” he added. “Keep killing it Chelsea! Mahal kita!”
Handler and Koy met through a mutual friend nearly 20 years ago. From there, Koy would go on to make frequent appearances on Handler’s former E! talk show, Chelsea Lately.
The two stars first sparked dating rumors in September while looking cozy at a Los Angeles Dodgers game. But she confirmed the relationship later that month, posting a photo of the pair kissing.
While sharing an “appreciation post” for Koy in May, Handler called him “the best boyfriend” she’s ever had.
Handler — whose dating history includes 50 Cent — previously said going to therapy is what ultimately prepared her to date someone like Koy.
“I had gone a long time without ever sitting down to contemplate or reflect. And therapy changed that,” she said in E! News’ digital cover story in April. “It gives you the gift of self-awareness. I would never have been open to dating Jo Koy unless I had had therapy.”
Handler continued, “So what’s different about it is, I’m in a different place. He’s in a different place. He’s a man and I’m a woman, whereas before I was a girl and he was a boy. It’s been a great love story. I didn’t really think I would get this.”
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