Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo
Andy Cohen explained the cast selection of the Real Housewives of New York reboot, revealed if there are plans to keep the original castmates in some capacity, and addressed rumors that are “too lame to respond to.”
Many fans were outraged over Bravo’s decision to ditch the entire cast of season 13, amid allegations of racism, and replace them with completely new faces.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Andy discussed the selection of new cast members for the reboot, which premiered last Sunday.
“We looked at so many people and we met people every way from Sunday before we wound up selecting this group. We took a lot of care in this, and I think it shows in who we actually chose.”
He then shared why this is the “right group of women.”
“They’re a cohesive group,” he explained. “We were looking for a group of friends, people who had existing relationships. Some of them know each other, some of them don’t. They’re funny, they’re fun, they’re aspirational, they’re fashionable. They live their lives. They’re opening up their lives in front of the camera. They’re all dynamic. They’re professionals. They, I think, represent a different New York than we’ve seen before. They are diverse. They live all over the city, and it feels fresh and very vibrant.”
The host also addressed their decision to film the original cast members for Ultimate Girls Trip season 5. “We were looking for content when Peacock was launching, and Girls Trip was something that we had been talking about for many years. It was not a new idea, it was not an original idea. We needed programming that would drive viewers in demand to Peacock. This was an absolute no-brainer idea of something that people really wanted to see.”
When asked if there are other plans for the original New York cast members, Andy answered, “As of right now I think we’re good. We’ve got Sonja and Luann on their show, and then we’ve got The Ultimate Girls Trip with the legacy RHONY women, and we’ve got this. It’s a pretty full plate. It seemed like the original RHONY women wanted to do a girls’ trip instead of filming in New York, and we listened to them. So, we’ll see.”
Switching gears, Andy reacted to a rumor that the current marital struggles of Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky were concocted to stir up interest in the upcoming season of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
“That’s a new one. That’s really stupid, is what it is,” said Andy, who claimed he’s been in contact with Kyle. “That’s too lame to even respond to, I think.”
The Real Housewives of New York City season 14 airs Sundays at 9/8c on Bravo.