Andy Cohen doesn’t think The Real Housewives of New Jersey would fail without Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga.
During an interview days ago, the Watch What Happens Live host opened up about the future of RHONJ while also teasing the upcoming season of The Real Housewives of New York City, admitting the Vanderpump Rules cast was “hard on” Lisa Vanderpump at the season 10 reunion, and sharing if he’d star on a family-focused reality show.
“No. I think my last book was as close as I’ll get to doing a reality show. It was pretty open and intense,” he said during a June 24 interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet.
As for the hottest guy on Bravo, that honor went to Amir Lancaster, of Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard.
“I think Amir on Summer House is really handsome… I’m gonna say him,” Andy stated.
When he was then asked about what’s on Bravo viewers’ minds at the moment, Andy said they’re curious about what the new RHONY cast will be like.
“The good news is it’s great,” Andy explained. “It’s a different show than the original [RHONY], but it’s valid, and it’s fun and it’s aspirational and fun and fashionable and fun to watch and petty and everything you love about the Housewives, you’ll get from [RHONY]. It is funny. It’s got big shoes to fill in that category, but it is funny.”
Following a drama-filled Pump Rules reunion, during which Andy found himself in the midst of a near-brawl between James Kennedy and Tom Sandoval, Sandoval has continued to face online backlash for his affair with Raquel Leviss. And, according to Andy, he feels people should “chill out.”
“Let these people alone. They bared themselves to you warts and all and so I think it’s time to kind of let it sit,” he advised.
Looking back at the reunion, Andy reacted to the Pump Rules cast’s back-talking against their former boss, Lisa.
“That was wild. They were like, ‘Get out of my way, we’re coming through,’” he recalled. “They were a little hard on her. [But] she’s tough.”
Although the Pump Rules reunion was highly talked about, Andy said his experience at the RHONJ season 13 reunion was worse.
“It was so intense. It was so exhausting. I lost my cool,” Andy noted. “Vanderpump really was, you just kinda put a quarter in and everybody did their thing. They all were so revved up and they couldn’t wait to confront Tom that I really just needed to kinda try and be a traffic cop and make sure no fists were thrown. But [RHONJ] was tough.”
Speaking of the future, Andy said he can see both Teresa and Melissa returning for season 14.
“I think there’s a world that anything can happen,” he shared.
That said, he’s not ready to recast the series a la RHONY.
“I don’t think we’re at that place yet,” he confirmed. “I don’t think we need to. I think there’s, I think you could keep them both on, you could take one or the other off, or you could take them both off, and the show would still be great.”
The Real Housewives of New York City season 14 premieres on Sunday, July 16, at 9/8c on Bravo.