Unbeknownst to him, Anderson Cooper was once a ladies' man. The openly gay journalist opened up about his past romantic relationships during a recent episode of his eponymous daytime talk show.
"I have had a little bit more experience in other areas other than with guys," Cooper, 45, giggled. "I don't have much experience, but the few times when I would go on a date with a girl -- like when I was 12 -- there was a lot of sharing, and a lot of talking, and a lot of asking how I am."
Cooper -- who shares a townhouse with boyfriend and nightclub owner Ben Maisani in New York City's East Village neighborhood -- said he "didn't really know" about some of his "alleged" relationships with his female peers.
"They thought we were dating," he recalled, "and I was sort of hoping to meet their brothers!"
"They're my best friends still, but I find they share a lot," the Anderson Cooper 360 host said of his female friends. "I have a friend -- I send her one text and I get 20 texts back. Guys don't want a million texts. It's exhausting."
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Though he's been out to friends and family since high school, Cooper didn't comment on his sexual orientation until the summer of 2012. "It's just not something I talked about publicly, because as a reporter, I didn't think it was appropriate," he later explained. "It didn't seem like part of my job."
"I didn't want to send a message that there was anything I was ashamed about or unhappy about or not comfortable with. That was the main thing for me," he continued. "I am the same person I always was. I do the job just the same way."
This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Anderson Cooper: I Once Dated Girls But I Was More Interested in "Their Brothers"