Chelsea Handler says ending her relationship with Jo Koy was "one of the most difficult things that I have ever had to do".

The 47-year-old TV host had known Jo for two decades but they didn't become a couple until 2021 and the romance lasted for a year before Chelsea decided she had no choice but to walk away despite previously believing she had found her "forever" partner.

Speaking on Brooke Shields' 'Now What?' podcast, she explained: "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. And then I thought this was gonna be the person I spend my life with."

Chelsea went on: "And then, towards the end of the relationship, it just became clear that this was not my person. There were just some behaviours that we couldn't agree on … It felt to me like I would have to abandon myself, which maybe I would have been okay to do if I were 20 or 25, but I wasn't willing to do that. No matter how much I loved this person — and I loved him so much — I was not going to abandon myself ... I had to walk away from something that I really believed was gonna be a forever relationship. So that was difficult."

The 'Chelsea Lately' star added that she tried everything to make the relationship work - including couples therapy - but she eventually decided it was "futile".

She said: "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 realised this is futile."

Chelsea added: "Walking away from him was one of the most difficult things that I have ever had to do."

She revealed they haven't spoken in some time and she can't see them even having a friendship again unless "there's some accountability and some responsibility taken."