Anderson Cooper and Benjamin Maisani Talk Co-Parenting Baby Wyatt

Anderson Cooper and his ex, Benjamin Maisani, just opened up about their "unusual" co-parenting situation—and shared why it absolutely works for them and their 16-month-old son, Wyatt. In a new People magazine interview promoting his upcoming third book, Cooper deems their life together "awesome."

"It's probably an unusual setup, but I knew he would be a great dad, and he is," the 54-year-old CNN anchor says in the People feature, which includes new photos of a smiling Cooper and Maisani with their baby (Wyatt's little striped pajamas are too adorable). "We're exes, but we're family to each other, and we love each other as family and as co-parents."

Though Cooper has shared regular parenting updates, including his frustration at missing Wyatt's first steps, public thoughts from Maisani have been much rarer. "Anderson has changed a lot since Wyatt arrived," Maisani tells People. "He's happy and relaxed in a way he's never been before. Wyatt has grounded him."

Cooper adds, "I've always believed that if you've been with somebody and that ends, in terms of an intimate relationship, if you love somebody, there's no reason why that love shouldn't continue." While he says they bicker about the same little things all parents do, "we get along great."

Maisani, 48, is a businessman who has owned several bars and nightclubs in New York City. In 2017, he opened Club Cumming in the former space of his previous gay bar, Eastern Bloc, with Scottish actor Alan Cumming.

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The co-parents share a long history together: Though Cooper and Maisani first went public with their relationship in 2015, USAToday reports they had been linked since 2009. Cooper announced their breakup back in March 2018, saying in a statement that the two had "separated as boyfriends some time ago."

In a February 2021 Ellen Show interview, Cooper told Ellen DeGeneres that he and Maisani used to want different things when it came to starting a family. "It's interesting, because he wasn't really sure he wanted to have a kid—which is one of the reasons we probably broke up—but then, he came around to the idea," he said at the time. "Now he is such a great parent."

In case anyone hopes that Cooper will get back together with Maisani, he told DeGeneres, "no, that's not going to happen." Perhaps the exes' non-romantic life partnership will help others expand their definition of how a happy family can look. And there's no denying that Wyatt looks pretty darn happy.