Is Anderson Gay?

Will Anderson Cooper Come Out on His New Talk Show?

With the start of Anderson Cooper's new daytime talk show, Anderson, just weeks away there's speculation that CNN's biggest closet case will be coming out during the daylight hours. So will he? And just when would he do it? Let's speculate.

Anderson has always avoided talking about his confirmed bachelorhood with the old "I don't talk about my personal life" line (even though his brother's suicide and his mother's love life seem to be fair game and not personal at all).

But if he's really stepping into the daytime talk arena, he better get personal real quick. Do you know where Oprah would have been if she'd never shared details of her life and put her friends, family, lovers, advisers, and favorite things up on TV for all to see? Canceled, that's where!

It seems like now would be the perfect time for Anderson to be honest about just who lives with him in that firehouse of his. But when should he do it?

The First Episode

It seems logical that he'd use the first show for the big reveal—producers could tease the premiere with "Anderson reveals the shocking truth about himself," or some such nonsense. Remember what that did for the season premiere of Oprah's final season when we thought she was going to come out, but she really told everyone she has a sister she didn't know about? It would get everyone talking about the show, which wouldn't be the worst thing for ratings. But they filmed the first episode last week, and we haven't heard anything yet, so it probably didn't happen.

Sweeps Week

If the show gets off to a decent start but really wants to bring home the money, maybe Anderson will wait until sweeps week—the period when ratings determine how much broadcasters can charge for commercials during a show—to really bring out the big guns and drive the ratings through the roof. The whole world would be watching, and it would probably boost the viewers tuning into the show post-sweeps as people tune in to see the fallout.

Never

It's been years and years that people have been talking about his open secret, and it was three years ago that Out put him on the cover of the magazine. If he hasn't made some sort of announcement or even the briefest acknowledgment by now, why do it in the future? Well, it would be good for ratings (and it would keep people like me off his back), but it also might be nice to, you know, live openly and honestly. But considering he's been hiding this long, we have a feeling he could pull a full Merv Griffin and just drag it out until he dies.

On the Ridiculist

Andy basically outs himself every damn night on CNN during a little segment he likes to call the "Ridiculist." It's that little segment at the end when he touches on pop culture and discusses something or someone who is utterly ridiculous. But Andy being Andy, he often talks about Levi Johnston, the Real Housewives of Anycity USA, Jersey Shore, or the time he went to a Kylie Minogue concert and someone spilled their vodka soda all over his chaps. OK, I made that last one up, but to illustrate the point, here's a little video showing you his gayest moments on the segment. If this isn't his "I'm Gay" splashed across the cover of People, then what is?

[Photo of Cooper at top via Getty Images, photo of Cooper with boyfriend Benjamin Maisani via PCN]