Anderson Cooper has been racking up the frequent flyer miles over the past few months, taking at least five trips to Dallas where he has been spending time with Victor Lopez.
It is unclear when the journalist, 50, met his new friend, a 33-year-old radiologist, but it has led to a report in the National Enquirer that he and his longtime boyfriend Benjamin Maisani may have split.
DailyMail.com can report however that Cooper and Maisani are still living together in New York City, and on weekends it seems that Maisani has the residence all himself while Cooper heads south to visit Lopez.
A rep for Cooper has yet to respond to a request for comment.
Lopez meanwhile appears to have been a fan of Cooper from even before they met, with his Instagram handle having formerly been Victoro360, which is similar to the title of Cooper’s CNN show Anderson 360.
He changed it however in February to Victoro001.
New friend: Anderson Cooper has made at least five weekend trips to Dallas since December 20, where he spends time with radiologist Victor Lopez (Cooper and Lopez above in a photo posted on January 8 in Dallas)
Going strong: This has led to a report claiming that he and his French-born boyfriend Ben Maisani may have split after nine years of dating (Cooper and Maisani above on Tuesday in NYC leaving their shared firehouse home)
Swole twins: DailyMail.com can report that the two men are still living together despite Cooper’s Texas trips and were spotted leaving their home on Tuesday (Cooper left and Maisani right on Tuesday as they left home at same time)
Big day: Cooper is pictured with Lopez in photos posted to social media from January and February, when he attended a 33rd birthday party for his new friend (Cooper and Lopez above on February 17 at Lopez’s birthday)
Mirror image: Cooper and Maisani were spotted together over the weekend when the CNN host was honored in New York City (above) and posed for photographers in a show of solidarity in this March 10th photo
Cooper was first spotted in Dallas the weekend before Christmas, staying at a luxury hotel where he was unable to avoid bumping into at least one excited couple, who snapped a photo with the on-air personality.
He stayed put in New York City over the holidays due to his annual New Year’s Eve hosting duties on CNN, but was back in Texas the following weekend.
That is when Lopez posted the first image of the two men together, which showed them sitting together in a car.
Lopez captioned the photo by writing: ‘Weekend vibes.’
He then managed to combine both work and play on the weekend of January 15 when he took Lopez along with him on a trip to New Orleans.
Cooper was there to shoot a 60 Minutes segment on the removal of monuments honoring Confederate leaders, and Lopez shared a photo of the two men inside a room at their hotel.
Lopez took that photo while laying on the couch and it shows his sneakers and Cooper’s smiling face as he sits in a chair wearing a suit with his notepad.
’So tell me about your week,’ wrote Lopez, joking that it appeared as though he was at a therapist’s office.
Relaxing: Lopez posted a photo of himself in Cooper’s hotel room when he joined him in New Orleans on January 13 as he filmed a 60 Minutes segment (Lopez’s post above when he was still Victoro360)
Hanging with friends: Lopez and Cooper were also seen with his 60 Minutes producer Keith Sharman in the lobby of their hotel in New Orleans (above)
Letting loose: Lopez later posted a photo of himself wearing Mardi Gras beads to his Instagram Story (above) that was taken in his hotel room
The two men were also spotted by an excited visitor that weekend, who snapped a picture of the two in the lobby of their hotel as they and Cooper’s 60 Minutes producer Keith Sharman spoke to an older gentleman in a suit and another woman.
Lopez later posted a photo of himself wearing Mardi Gras beads to his Instagram Story that was taken in his hotel room.
Two weeks after that Cooper was again in Dallas with Lopez, with the two men grabbing a meal at a local pizza chain.
Quick trip: On January 27, Cooper and Cohen performed their AC2 show at the Beacon Theater in New York City, with Copper’s boyfriend Maisani in attendance (Cohen and Cooper with Dolores Catinia and Maisani over Cohen’s shoulder to the right)
And he’s off: Two days later, the manager at the Dallas pizzeria Cane Rosso posted a photo of himself with Cooper (above)
Trading places: Maisani caused tongues to wag after he was spotted kissing another man in Central Park back in 2012 (above)
That outing was reported on by one excited birthday girl and their server, who both noted on social media that seeing Cooper was a highlight of their day.
One of the women was also able to confirm that Cooper was in fact with Lopez at the restaurant.
Cooper even agreed to pose for a picture with the manager, though Lopez did not join him in the photo.
That trip came after Cooper had performed his AC2 show in New York City alongside Andy Cohen, with his live in Maisani one of the guests in attendance.
The next stop on that tour was in Boston, and Lopez did the travelling that time, heading up to Boston to watch Cooper perform and posting photos from the audience.
The show was in Boston on the night of February 10th, and the doctor posted a selfie flying home from Boston on February 11th.
Fly the friendly skies: Lopez shared this selfie on his changed Instagram account flying home from Boston on February 11th, the day after Cooper played a show in the same city
Friends and family: Cooper also posed up with Lopez’s friends in a photo taken during his birthday weekend (above)
Out and about: Cooper did not acknowledge his relationship with Maisani until May of 2015 when he posted a photo of the two men on Instagram, writing: ‘I guess when you’re with someone a long time, you start to pose alike’ (Instagram photo above)
And a week after that Cooper was in Dallas for Lopez’s big birthday bash, photos of which were posted to social media and showed the two men smiling together in photos alone and with the doctor’s group of friends.
Cooper appears to have become nervous about the public exposure at some point however, with Lopez deleting some posts around this time and then switching his social media accounts to private.
He has also been seen getting cozy with another attractive gentleman in recent photos, suggesting that he and Cooper are just friends or their fling is over.
This has all fueled speculation that Cooper may have called it quits with Maisani after nine years with the gay club proprietor
That did not seem to be the case over the weekend however, when the French-born Maisani, 45, accompanied Cooper to the 2018 Windward School Benefit in New York City, where the Anderson 360 host was one of the honorees.
Travel buddy: The couple are frequently seen with friends Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos (above in October 2016 celebrating Ripa’s birthday)
Open: Maisani was spotted kissing another man back in 2012 while dating Cooper, leading some to believe the men have an open relationship (Cooper and Maisani above in Venice last May)
DailyMail.com has also learned that Maisani is still living with Cooper in the converted firehouse he purchased for just over $4million back in 2009 in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.
That is also the same year the two began dating, though the notoriously guarded Cooper did not officially acknowledge the relationship until May of 2015 when he posted a photo of the two men on Instagram, writing: ‘I guess when you’re with someone a long time, you start to pose alike.’
Since that time however he has become incredibly open about his relationship, and even did a spread in the August 2016 issues Architectural Digest showing off the home he and Maisani own in a remote section of Brazil.
The men split their time between that vacation home, their Manhattan firehouse and Cooper’s growing Hampton’s compound.
Cooper dropped $1.7million back in 2012 to buy the 2.4 acre property next door to his home in the village of Quogue.
Shortly after, Cooper picked up another property in Connecticut, shelling out approximately $8million for a 10,127-square-foot Tudor revival in Litchfield.
Red hot: Cooper and Maisani live in a converted firehouse in Greenwich Village (above) which Cooper purchased in 2009 around the time they began dating
Estate sale: The couple also has a massive Tudor estate in Connecticut that Cooper paid $8 million for in 2012 (above)
Out east: Cooper has combined two properties in the Hamptons (above) into a miniature compound for himself and Maisani
Those three vacation homes have been getting little use of recent however as their owner spends his free time in the Longhorn State.
Cooper and Maisani certainly spent plenty of time together last year, taking a trip to Venice in May and heading out to Bali in July as guests on Eos, the 305 foot sailing yacht owned by Barry Diller and wife Diane Von Furstenberg.
Cooper made multiple work trips to Dallas prior to meeting Lopez, including one in November where he was the keynote speaker at an AT&T event.
He and Cohen were also in the city with their AC2 tour the first weekend of December.
That could very well have been where he met Lopez, with Cohen meeting his former boyfriend Clifton Dassuncao after the Harvard PhD student attended the pair’s show in Boston back in 2015.