In promoting her new four-part documentary series Chelsea Does currently streaming on Netflix, wild and witty Chelsea Handler penned an exclusive essay for the February issue of Harper’s BAZAAR, on newsstands now.
The forty-year old comedian from Livingston, NJ reached out to an ex – Peter, her first adult love (and heartbreak), the only ex she ever considered herself to be on speaking terms with – and the one person she had gone the longest without speaking.
She shares the experience of meeting with him for the first time in two decades; being reminded of all the good and bad memories. While her story is witty and funny, in true fashion to Handler, it’s also tragic, in revealing that timing is everything when it comes to love.
On Peter, her British, 31-year-old first adult love—and heartbreak: “Peter, though, was my first adult love—and the heartbreak for me that paved the way for all future heartbreaks. He was the one you believe you’ll eventually find your way back to because, at 23, your brain is exploding with the struggle to accept that not all things happen for a reason.”
On seeing Peter again for the first time in 20 years: “It’s supremely awkward seeing someone you used to have a lot of sex with for the first time in almost two decades.”
On her look back at her relationship with Peter: “We talked about our relationship. He told me that I was a menace—that I would drink more than him and his friends combined, and then get up at 7 a.m. and run six miles. He said that I was opinionated and loved a good fight, and that I could get anyone to open up. He said that he would often find me laughing by myself, and that he felt like he was dating all of my friends too, that I was a complex character and a “beautiful hurricane.” He told me that over the years people have said, “You should have married Chelsea. Look at the life you would have had.” His response? “If I’d married Chelsea, I’d be divorced with two kids.””
On timing and heartbreak: “When our interview was over, Peter and I got in a car and went to lunch alone. I was selfishly dying to hear what happened to his marriage, what his life was like, and to see if there was any truth to the phrase “Timing is everything.” What I discovered is that there is—just not in the way I’d imagined. We bickered flirtatiously. I felt like I was 23 again—except that our roles were reversed. But then I recognized the feeling as something sadder: that I didn’t, and wouldn’t ever, love him again.”
Pictured:
Handler a week ago in Los Angeles