Like CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, ABC weatherman Sam Champion has been inching out of the closet: he's basically out socially (just ask our commenters!) but remains closeted professionally. Michael Musto wrote in Out one year ago that Champion was in a "glass closet... the press still gives a free pass to people like... Champion and... Cooper, helping to keep their glass doors shut so they can lead gay social lives while carefully skirting the issue." And yet here's Andy Cohen, a senior VP at NBC's Bravo, blogging about Champion, Champion's boyfriend, and their fabulous party in the Hamptons Memorial Day weekend:

The lunch went until cocktail time and on my way home I stopped by a store opening in East Hampton. Kelly Ripa and Marc Consuelos were the "hosts" of the party, but the store is owned by Sam Champion's boyfriend. Neither of the Champions seemed to be around for the first 90 minutes of their own party, and so the topic of conversation inside the party became: If you are the host of a party (and not the "host") and your name is not "Madonna", is it appropriate to make an "entrance" or be there from the start? People seemed to be split on the etiquette. (I will ask Da Countess sometime.)



There were so many pretty girls dolled up in great clothes and shoes who were single and seemingly looking. And they were surrounded by gay guys, which ultimately has got to get quite tiresome for those pretty girls. We need a shipment of straight men to the metro area pronto to right this wrong.

Most likely, Cohen was unaware that Champion keeps his sexuality hushed. But it's also possible the Good Morning America weatherman has decided to speak more openly about his relationships now that he's going into business with his boyfriend — in the high-profile retail sector, no less. If that's the case, who better for Champion to open up to than a fellow gay television insider who will help him inch his way out of the closet via a low-key mention in a blog post about parties? You don't get those sort of kid gloves in, say, Page Six.

[Bravo]