Two-Timing Rumor du Jour: Anderson Cooper's Private Life Goes Public

Wonderwall, Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 8:32am (PDT)

By Kat Giantis

• Last month, when Anderson Cooper confirmed what everyone already knew ("The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud"), he noted how he's a "reserved person" and hoped that his acknowledgment didn't signal "an end to a small amount of personal space."

  Alas, that turned out to be wishful thinking. Earlier this week, photos emerged showing his rumored live-in love, bar owner Ben Maisani, enjoying a steamy make out session in a New York park with someone other than the Silver Fox.

  The shades-of-Kristen-Stewart-like images raised plenty of questions, including whether Cooper, 45, and Maisani, 39, had quietly called it quits, or if they had some sort of romantic understanding.

  Life & Style, however, says that's not the case, claiming the pair were on vacation together when the saliva-swapping images surfaced.

  "Anderson was with Ben in Croatia when he was told about the photos," relays a source. "They were on a yacht. They flew to Croatia on Aug. 11, one day after the photos were taken. Anderson's upset -- who wouldn't be?"

  No word on whether there was a "man overboard" situation when the picture news broke.

  According to the mag, Anderson and Ben didn't have an open relationship, and the photos have the CNN journalist "reeling."

  The New York Daily News agrees that Cooper is upset, but chalks it up to Maisani's lack of discretion rather than his passionate lip-lock.

  "The pictures are what's making it a big deal," asserts an insider, who believes that the couple of three-plus years have a less-than-restrictive relationship.

  Meanwhile, the National Enquirer (we know, we know) recently speculated that A.Coop planned to pop the question to Maisani, with a confidant gushing, "They're totally committed to one another."

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