Earlier this week, Bill O’Reilly revealed the surprising – and to him, dismaying – news that he is distantly related to Bill Maher.

O'REILLY: In January, the PBS series, “Finding Your Roots,” will feature me, your humble correspondent. I was interviewed by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and the doctor told me some pretty amazing stuff about my ancestors. But when he told me who one of my distant cousins is, I blinked. I blinked a lot.

Does the name Bill Maher mean anything?

O’Reilly threw up his hands, sighed in mock horror and made the sign of the cross. Then, laughing, he said, "So here’s The Factor tip of the day: you can pick your friends, you cannot select your relatives."

According to CBS News, O’Reilly also hammed it up on PBS:

He turns a page to see a picture of Maher, the liberal host of HBO’s “Real Time.”

“Oh, geez,” he said. “You’re going to have to put him on 24-hour medical watch. This ruins his career. This destroys him.”

But in fact, Maher took it in stride. Not only did he not think his career was ruined, he thought the connection was evidence of our country's greatness. From CBS News:

“It just shows you what a great place America is,” he said. “Because we’re about as opposite as you can possibly get.”

But take heart, O'Reilly. It could have been Al Franken.

Watch O’Reilly below, from the December 14th The O’Reilly Factor.