Back when Carson Daly hosted MTV's Total Request Live, he was for a time engaged to Tara Reid – and the Last Call with Carson Daly host says he's proud of his ex for speaking out about her plastic surgery.

"I saw her on the Today show recently talking about the whole thing, and I know how nervous she gets for stuff like that – it's funny when you know somebody so well – but I thought that she handled herself great, and I really commend her for her honesty and stepping up to the plate," Daly, 33, tells PEOPLE.

Daly and Reid dated for 17 months before splitting in 2001. Reid, 31, recently went public about her struggle with botched breast-implant and liposuction surgeries.

Daly says they don't keep in touch regularly these days. "We don't run in the same circles," he tells PEOPLE. "But when we do run into each other it's always great to see her, and always very pleasant."

Lately, he's been living in Los Angeles, hosting an online program called "It's Your Show" (www.itsyourshowtv.com) in addition to his late-night show on NBC – and staying out of the tabloids.

"I'm trying to re-enter the human race," he says. "All of my rock 'n' roll living at MTV and my fast-paced public relationships – a lot of the press that people associated me with was tied in with all of that. And as I got a little bit older and moved on to NBC I thought, 'I've gotta grow up here.' "

Speaking of relationships – is he dating anyone? "There's a just lot of work going on," he says. "That's my focus right now. PEOPLE readers shouldn't worry about my social life. I'm very happy. When I'm not, I'm sure they'll read about it."


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