Chelsea Handler admits she ‘dodged a bullet’ by being ghosted by former New York governor Andrew Cuomo

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Chelsea Handler has always been known for her unfiltered honesty.

The comedian recently confessed that she “dodged a bullet” when former New York governor Andrew Cuomo abruptly ghosted her, shutting down her plans for what she hoped would be a steamy encounter, Page Six reported.

Chelsea Handler was excited over romantic encounter with Andrew Cuomo

It all started during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when then-New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s daily briefings had some people treating him like some kind of a local hero and political rockstar. Handler was one of them.

In her upcoming book titled 'I’ll Have What She’s Having', the comedian spilled that she developed a major crush on the then-governor, mesmerized by his leadership (or maybe just his strong, dad-like presence on TV).

In 2020, she even went on 'The View' via Zoom and bluntly admitted that she would like to have a romantic encounter with the governor.

Turns out the universe was listening because three days later, her phone rang with a call from an unknown number. It was none other than New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Handler was ecstatic and screamed to a friend, “I’m going to f**k the governor!” The plan was that she’d simply fly to New York, meet up with Cuomo, and take it from there.

But “the big hiccup here was that Mr Cuomo stopped responding to my texts as soon as I arrived on the East Coast,” she revealed.

However, she decided to turn up the heat instead of sulking. While on a family vacation, she started texting him risque photos.

Despite her efforts, Handler never heard back from Cuomo again. 

And looking back, she has zero regrets. "My life is filled with dodging bullets," she told Page Six, adding that not getting together with the former governor was "just one example."

“I’ve been dodging bullets since I was four,” Handler said. “My sister even says it. She says, ‘It always seems to work out for you!’ But she doesn’t seem happy about it.”

Not long after Handler’s Cuomo crush fizzled out, the latter's career did too. In August 2021, Cuomo resigned after nearly a dozen women accused him of misconduct and inappropriate behavior. While he has denied all allegations, the scandal was enough to send him packing.

Handler reflected on the whole situation in her book. "If I hadn’t been so forward and declared what I was looking for, I could have ended up in bed with him. It seemed he preferred touching women who weren’t interested in him, rather than touching women who were," she wrote.

Hustler Chelsea Handler is learning empathy and ditching narcissism 

Chelsea Handler has always been about the grind. And not just when it comes to dating.

Her work ethic is pretty much unmatched. At just 10 years old, she was already running a lemonade stand (except she spiked her drinks, making it an instant success). Then came her babysitting phase—where she somehow ended up taking care of a child four years older than her. 

But she ultimately shot to prominence when she turned her no-filter, tell-it-like-it-is humor into a comedy empire. From her early 2000s hidden-camera show 'Girls Behaving Badly' and her late-night reign on 'Chelsea Lately' to her six New York Times bestsellers, podcasts, and Netflix stand-up specials, Handler has built a career on being unapologetically herself.

She’s not slowing down anytime soon. Her latest stand-up special drops on Netflix next month, and she’s gearing up for her book release.

While she’s always been quick with a joke, Handler has also spent the last decade doing some serious inner work.

In an interview with Us Weekly, she opened up about her self-improvement journey. "You want to get rid of the bad behavior that’s hurtful to others or hurtful to yourself and also adopt this new version of you," she said.

But that didn’t mean losing her edge. "I don’t want to lose all the edge I was naturally born with—that’s who I am—so it’s a bit of Whack-a-Mole. You’re like, OK, I’m auditioning different versions of myself, seeing which ones make the most sense for this improved version of me," she explained. 

One of the biggest things she’s worked on is empathy.

For years, Handler thought she had it. But at one point, she actually asked her therapist if she was a narcissist—because she wasn’t sure if she truly understood other people’s emotions. "I had sympathy, and I had generosity, but they're not the same thing," she explained during an appearance on the 'Jamie Kern Lima Show'.

Her therapist confirmed that for a long time, she didn’t have true empathy. But the good news is that it can be learned. "Yes, you can. You can totally learn empathy. That’s the greatest update ever," she added.

Handler turns 50 on February 25, according to People.