Getty Images for Newport Beach TV FEST Andy Cohen hosts Bravo’s five-nights-a-week late-night talk show, “Watch What Happens Live,” and a four-day-a-week show on Radio Andy, his SiriusXM channel. He’s an executive producer of the “Real Housewives” franchise, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in March — an achievement that Bravo continues to tout, assembling 60ish Housewives for “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th,” premiering in August.
Cohen began his career as an intern at CBS News, where he then worked for a decade as a producer. In 2004, he became a programming executive at Bravo, where he eventually began appearing as on-air talent, hosting “The Real Housewives” reunions, which created a now much-copied format — and also changed Cohen’s career. Ten years after joining the network, he transitioned from his executive role to focus on “WWHL,” as well as producing.
On June 5, Variety celebrated Cohen’s many achievements, honoring him with the Creative Impact in Television Award at the Newport Beach Television Festival, where I interviewed him in front of a raucous, vocal crowd of fans at the Lido Theater. Vicki Gunvalson — an original cast member of “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” who is returning for Season 20 — presented Cohen with the award, as fellow “OC” cast members Emily Simpson, Gina Kirschenheiter, Jenn Pedranti and Tamra Judge cheered from the audience.
“I don’t have a typical day, which is one of the things I love about my life,” Cohen said that night when asked about his many duties. “But I will say I was a producer at CBS News for 10 years, and I am an incredibly deadline-oriented person. So if someone gives me a deadline and says, ‘You have to do this, write this, record this, whatever by this day,’ then I will do it.”
The conversation began with questions about “Summer House,” a top-of-mind subject for every Bravoholic in recent months, after castmates West Wilson and Amanda Batula confirmed in a March 31 Instagram post that they’re dating. Three weeks later, Cohen had the difficult task of grilling Wilson and Batula about what happened between them and when — as well as giving the floor to Wilson’s ex-girlfriend, Ciara Miller, Batula’s soon-to-be ex-husband, Kyle Cooke, and the rest of the “Summer House” cast, all of whom seemed crushed by the new couple’s actions. I also asked Cohen about the rumor that Jennifer Lawrence had been the superfan who’d helped expose the person who’d leaked audio from the reunion, who was caught and subsequently fired. Cohen told me that he’d reveal who it was on the June 9 “WWHL” — and yes, it was indeed Lawrence! (You can see in the video our back-and-forth in which I tried and failed to get Cohen to reveal whether it was, in fact, JLaw.)
In the lightly edited transcript of the conversation below, Cohen talked about the guests he still wants for “Watch What Happens Live,” the origins of the glorious “Real Housewives of Rhode Island,” whether there could ever be a trans Housewife, why he and Anderson Cooper will be drinking beer on CNN on July 3 — and much more.
I just need to start with the “Summer House” reunion. You’ve done a masterful job. What was that like to navigate?I would say that the “Summer House” reunion was Top 10 most tense reunions that we’ve had. This is a real group, and there was real emotional fallout among this group. This group is rocked and devastated, and it’s very real, and it was very emotional. I left, and I was truly spent — and I wasn’t in it. I was just directing the conversation.
You’ve done Pulitzer Prize-worthy work moderating, I think. What were you most surprised by during the taping?Not the timeline — by the way, the timeline started to feel a little irrelevant; Ciara read all those texts. The story was the betrayal and the feelings, and how it affected the group. I guess that the headline was how visibly shaken a lot of them were: Jesse Solomon spent a good chunk of the last 25 minutes sitting there, kind of crying for real. He was very shaken. I guess it was the emotion that really stood out to me.
Andy Cohen, recipient of Variety’s Creative Impact in Television Award, and Vicki Gunvalson of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” Courtesy of Getty Images for Newport Beach TV FEST I own a “Carl’s a Mess T-shirt,” but maybe “Jesse’s a Mess” should be next. As most people here probably know, there were leaks from the reunion online. The leaker was caught and fired. But then a rumor started that Detective Jennifer Lawrence was the one who’d ID’d the perp. I absolutely love this rumor. And by the way, I said, “Oh, we’re going to reveal the fan.” And then I forgot. So, watch Tuesday night’s “Watch What Happens Live.”
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