In a new interview with Hamptons Magazine, Bravo’s Executive Vice President, Original Programming and Development Andy Cohen touches on a number of topics.
The interview was actually conducted by Andy’s friend Mark Consuelos who states, “My wife and I met him five years ago, and we feel like we have been lifelong friends.” Andy dishes on his most memorable WWHL guests, what he loves about each Housewives series, and which housewife has surprised him the most, hint – it’s a RHONJ! Excerpts from the interview below –
MARK CONSUELOS: Your show Watch What Happens: Live is ridiculously successful—you recently celebrated its 100th episode. What do you think it is about the show that everyone connects to?
ANDY COHEN: I think it is just the weird combinations of people. You have Sandra Bernhard and Sonja Morgan on, and Nacho Figueras—actually, it was a little bit of a Hamptons fest. You don’t know what is going to happen. I think it is a Fellini movie mixed with Wayne’s World.
MC: I have been on your show a few times, and it is so much fun. I think alcohol plays a small part in that, actually. I think Kelly said that alcohol could be your cohost.
AC: Alcohol could be my cohost, but I am not looking for a cohost.
MC: No, I don’t think you need one. The alcohol does help to make people a little loose. Which guest has gotten the loosest?
AC: There was one time when Bethenny Frankel turned to me during a commercial break and said, “I am trashed.” And Ricki Lake was very drunk. Then we had Regina King and Jackée Harry—that was the most famous, that became something. I got off the air and said, “That show was terrible”; I really felt like it was bad, but they were really into it, the ratings were high, and the fans loved it.
MC: What you are doing right now is rare. I don’t think it has really ever happened before, where you are straddling this network executive role while hosting a late-night talk show. Which do you find a bigger challenge? Is this part of your evil plan to take over television?
AC: I find my day job more challenging than my hosting job; I find that just a pleasure. I feel like I am hanging out with people that I know or have wanted to know, and everybody is invited to my party. And I love throwing parties. My day job is complex and complicated, and although I feel like I am good at producing television, it is challenging.
MC: Would you want to host five nights a week?
AC: You know, somewhere in my mind, I would love to, but it would mean that I would have to make some kind of a Sophie’s Choice because this job that I have is a 12-hour-a-day job. By the way, Bravo has not asked me to do this five nights a week; I just want to be a good solider.
MC: You have had some big celebrities on your show, but who would be your ultimate get?
AC: Michelle Obama. There is an election [coming next year]—maybe we should start working on this now. And Madonna. You know I am a huge Madonna fan.
MC: Whom would you rather save, Joe Gorga or Joe Giudice from Real Housewives of New Jersey or Mauricio Umansky from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills?
AC: Wow, this is a real brain twister. I would like to say Joe Gorga, but I am going to say Mauricio.
MC: Let’s talk Housewives—the show is great. If you had to keep only one of them, which is your favorite?
AC: I can’t! It is usually whichever one I am watching rough cuts of. Right now I am watching Jersey and New York, but they each bring me a different form of love. The Atlanta ladies just make me laugh my ass off. Beverly Hills, I just feel draped in cashmere. New Jersey, I love the way it is shot, the storytelling and the music; I think they do a brilliant job, and I love the construction of that show. New York, I just love these women and it entertains me—these glam New York women fighting about why people didn’t RSVP to their party; I think it represents this slice of New York life that makes me smile. Miami, I am so in love with Mama Elsa [Patton], I cannot even handle it. And Orange County is Knots Landing, and I feel like there is some real-life drama that happens with those women.
MC: These women have become celebrities, and with some really thriving business. Which one has surprised you the most?
AC: You know, Bethenny didn’t surprise me because I think she is so driven, but Teresa [Giudice] has a New York Times best-selling cookbook called Skinny Italian, and she has another one called Fabulicious. She really took me by surprise. Give it up to Teresa.
Photo: STEPHAN WÜRTH/Hamptoms Magazine.
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