Anderson Cooper on Gay Date for $21K

NEW YORK, NY -- A lunch date with hunky CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper got sold for a hefty $21,000 to British bachelor Oliver Hicks at a celebrity bachelor auction in New York.

New York Post reports:

Anderson Cooper, one of New York's most eligible men, appeals to both genders.

When a lunch date with the CNN anchor went on the block at the Puck Building the other night at the benefit for Bailey House, which helps AIDS victims, British bachelor Oliver Hicks bid aggressively and won the date for $21,000.

Hicks, who shuttles between New York and Los Angeles, runs production company North Six.

"The invitation allows him to bring a companion, but I have a feeling he will go solo," said one source.

"Anderson is cute," said Hicks.

No reports on how Anderson Cooper took the news about the outcome of the auction but it wouldn't be totally surprising if he finds it a bit uncomfortable, him not being out about his sexuality and all.