Bradley Cooper has a hot Oscar date ... with his mom

Bradley Cooper is arguably the most eligible bachelor to be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar this year (and when the only other choice is Joaquin Phoenix, there's not much argument, really). So the logical question emerges: Who will be his date to the big event?

Turns out the "Silver Linings Playbook" star and one-time Sexiest Man Alive has only one woman in mind: His mother.

"When I started the profession, [my mom said] 'If you ever [get nominated] I am the date,'" Cooper told E! News on the red carpet of the Critics' Choice Movie Awards. "That was done."

"She was freaking out," Cooper said of the reaction his mother, Gloria, had to the Oscar nomination.

Until recently, Cooper was reportedly dating his "The Words" co-star Zoe Saldana. He was previously married to actress Jennifer Esposito and romantically linked to actress Renee Zellweger.

Cooper admits he was up bright and early to watch the nomination announcement on television. He was surprised to see Leonardo DiCaprio ("Django Unchained") and Ben Affleck ("Argo") snubbed in the Best Supporting Actor and Best Director categories but was thrilled to see his "Silver Linings" co-stars Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver, and director David O. Russell all land nominations.

"When David O. got nominated [for Best Director] I got emotional because he put his whole heart into this movie and every frame, and the DGA didn't recognize him," Cooper said. "I was so happy and he was the first name they said."