It would seem we here at Reality Tea may have struck one of Andy Cohen’s nerves. Our talented features writer, Amy DeVore, wrote an article on November 24 titled “Key Ways Andy Cohen Could Improve His Bravo Reunion Hosting.”
Andy’s radio co-host, John Hill, caught wind of this article and brought it up with Andy on his SiriusXM show, Andy Cohen Live. The two broke down the points against him, and, admittedly, the Watch What Happens Live host deserves some props for taking most of it in stride. See his reactions below.
Does Andy watch Bravo? Does he have biases?
One of the specific criticisms Devore levied against Andy was the need to watch every season that he hosted a reunion for, citing the Below Deck Season 7 reunion specifically. Andy noted this reunion was “often cited” against him. He rebutted, “Of course, I watch every show that I do a reunion … for.” With Below Deck Season 7 specifically, he explained why he was off.
“It sounds like an excuse, but it’s the truth,” he explained. “I got a terrible dog bite right before the reunion and my head was not in it.” Co-host John Hill confirmed his claim. But Andy did acknowledge, perhaps because of the bite, that the Season 7 reunion was his “stinker.”
The next criticism suggested Andy hide his biases, citing RHOP Season 5’s reunion where Andy appeared to only grill Monique Samuels and not Candiace Dillard Bassett, sparking accusations of colorism. Andy said, “Well, hiding my biases has nothing to do with the colorism discussion. That’s a completely different thing.”
The thing is, our article didn’t speak about colorism being one of Andy’s biases. That was under a whole other section about how Andy should commit to important conversations. John misrepresented our feature – hopefully, by accident.
When it came to the colorism discussion, Andy called it “a very thoughtful conversation … So, that doesn’t have anything to do with bias.” He also claimed it was easy for the “hard questions” he asked to be misconstrued as bias, but he did say he would “take that on – hide my biases more.”
Andy’s follow-up questions and off-color comments
The next piece of advice didn’t sit well with Andy – the need to ask follow-up questions and the accusation that his cards distracted him. Andy disagreed, saying he most assuredly asked follow-up questions. John Hill affirmed that every possible topic is “beaten to death” at the reunions, but it was just a matter of what airs.
The last piece of criticism had to do with Andy’s “off-color” commentary, particularly how he observably harps on sexual content with his interviewees. John asserted that a fan with such criticisms “belongs more in a church, not on Bravo.” Andy pondered on it and said, “Well, I’ll take that.”
However, he argued with one quote from the article, “Any hole’s a goal,” arguing that he’d never said such a thing. He finished things off by saying, “Well, thanks for the critique.” However, his sincerity was perhaps questionable. Don’t take it too personally, Andy. The spotlight draws criticism no matter what.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ANDY’S RESPONSE TO THE CRITICISM? DOES HIS DEFENSE TRACK?
