What did Giuliana Rancic say? Jerry O’Connell recalls allegations in ex’s memoir 

The Joe's Apartment star Jerry O'Connell, who starred as a child actor in Rob Reiner's classic comedy-drama Stand By Me, appeared on Kelly Ripa's SiriusXM podcast on July 20, 2026. According to Entertainment Weekly, O'Connell, 52, on Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa, opened up about his relationship with former girlfriend Giuliana Rancic, whom he dated back in 2003.

When Ripa mentioned that Giuliana Rancic, 51, in her 2016 book Going Off Script wrote about their reported horrible breakup at the time, Jerry O'Connell, without any hesitation, admitted to the fact that they indeed "broke up poorly" and, with honesty, stated that he was not at all a good boyfriend to her.

Kelly Ripa then asked Jerry O'Connell whether Rancic, who is a news reporter, informed him or took his permission about mentioning their breakup in her memoir, to which the Kangaroo Jack star said that she did not.

However, as Ripa continued discussing their relationship with Jerry, she also mentioned that Rancic had given details of how they broke up, which was what she claimed in her book happened over O'Connell's building's intercom. While Jerry O'Connell confirmed that they broke up over his building's intercom, Ripa read to him what Rancic wrote about what he said to her, which is:

"Nope. Sorry, homegirl. Things change. But you take care, okay?"

When Ripa asked him if those were the exact words, Jerry O'Connell said:

"I don't recall exact wording, so I can't deny that I said that. It doesn't sound like something I'd say, but, again, if I was writing a memoir, it made for a good quote. So, you know what, I'm gonna applaud Giuliana for using colorful dialogue and everything."

According to the Daily Mail, Giuliana Rancic, in her memoir, also alleged that Jerry O'Connell, who is married to the Femme Fatale actress, Rebecca Romijn, cheated on her when they were dating. O'Connell shares two children with Romijn.

Jerry O'Connell apologizes to Giuliana Rancic on Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa

After calling himself a not-so-great boyfriend to Rancic on Kelly Ripa's podcast, Jerry O'Connell apologized to his former girlfriend for being the worst romantic partner. Jerry said:

"I gotta say, we had a lot of fun together. But we did break up on... We broke up poorly."

He went ahead and said:

"Let me take this moment to apologize to Giuliana Rancic — I'm not kidding — for being a terrible boyfriend. I was the worst. I wasn't the worst… I was just not a great boyfriend."

While talking about Giuliana's claim that he dumped her over his building's intercom, Jerry said:

"So Giuiana Rancic claims that I broke up with her through an intercom in my building. I broke up with her through an intercom because Giuliana Rancic came to my condominium and hit my intercom. I was not expecting Giuliana Rancic to come to said condominium. Someone was inside of my condominium, and Giuliana Rancic wanted entry into my condominium. Thank goodness, buzzer, gate, security. I paid a pretty hefty homeowner's fee for these things."

O'Connell recalled saying:

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"I said, 'I did not know you were coming. You can't come up here. You can't come here unannounced.' Notice no one had a key, so the relationship was not like that, but that was why: I didn't like someone coming to my condominium without an invite or even a text or even a phone call, like, 'Hey, at the farmers market, thought I'd stop by. Got some fresh-cut flowers.' There was no warning. And I didn't want someone coming in, because I didn't want any confrontation."

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