TV personality Giuliana Rancic is speaking out about her past relationship with Jerry O’Connell, claiming the actor’s retelling of their breakup left out painful details.
Speaking on Wednesday’s episode of the Bill and Giuliana podcast, which she hosts with her husband Bill Rancic, the former E! News host called the romance “traumatizing” and accused O’Connell of being “dismissive” and “cold as ice” while reflecting on their 2003-2004 relationship.
Rancic’s response comes just days after O’Connell appeared on Kelly Ripa’s Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast, where he admitted he was a “terrible boyfriend” and acknowledged there was another woman inside his apartment when he ended the relationship with Rancic.
Rancic, however, said O’Connell’s interview “downplay[ed] what [their] relationship was.”
“For a year and a half—except for the one breakup—we were together 24/7 every day, every night,” she said. “You could listen to his interview and think maybe this was an easy relationship, he was dating a bunch of girls, but no. It was a real relationship.”
She said the pair said “I love you” every day and that everything seemed “perfect” until O’Connell traveled to London to film a movie with Spice Girls star Geri Halliwell.
Rancic felt blindsided when photos surfaced showing the pair holding hands.
“It was, like the most shocking moment of my life,” she said. “I walked into a voiceover booth and fell to the ground, crying hysterically. It was awful. So upsetting and so devastating.”
When she confronted O’Connell at the time, she said he admitted, “Yeah, sorry. I don’t know what to tell you. I screwed up.”
Rancic said the Stand By Me actor later begged for another chance after his relationship with Halliwell fizzled out, allegedly telling her, “I am so sorry. I made the biggest mistake of my life. I don’t know what I was thinking. Please take me back. You’re the love of my life.”
Calling the breakup “devastating, heartbreaking, humiliating [and] traumatizing,” Rancic said she invited O’Connell to appear on the podcast on an Instagram post because she wanted to “unfuzz” his memory. He did not respond.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Rancic explained. “We are both happily married now, both have great families and we are both exactly where we’re meant to be.”
The former Spice Girl has not made any comments on the situation.
Rancic married entrepreneur Bill Rancic in 2007, and the couple shares one son.
O’Connell married actress Rebecca Romijn the same year, and they have twin daughters. Geri Halliwell married Formula 1 team boss Christian Horner on May 15, 2015.
