Andy Cohen is not afraid of asking the tough questions on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
“I think that sometimes when you do or say something that gets picked up everywhere, it’s initially very jarring,” Cohen, 55, told Today in an interview published on Wednesday, November 29. “It’s scary. So, I think I’ve gotten way better at knowing what the line is. And I think it’s from sometimes getting burned.”
Cohen has helmed WWHL on Bravo since 2009, interviewing everyone from Bravolebrities to A-listers including Jennifer Lopez.
“I’ve asked incredibly personal, incredibly direct questions of Real Housewives for years,” he quipped. “I think that was kind of my practice ground for going in and then saying to J. Lo, ‘Why were you on your phone texting during Mariah Carey’s performance?’ I think the show has a reputation of being the place that you go for uncensored, unpredictable fun.”
However, if Cohen ever goes “too far” with a certain line of questioning, both the audience and the WWHL will call him out.
“I’ve had guests turn on me during the show,” he recalled. “That is authentic and interesting TV, and I think it’s why people like the show. I’ve had guests really get mad at me, but I’ve also had many a Kardashian say, ‘I’m so glad we talked about that.’”
In one such instance, Cohen praised The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Dolores Catania in April for slimming down using Ozempic. Social media users quickly expressed outrage over Cohen’s remarks, criticizing him for gushing over the controversial weight loss drug.
“What I have been careful to say [since then], especially with Emily Simpson, who [also] lost a ton of weight, is, ‘I thought you looked great before. You still look great,’” Cohen explained. “The note [to myself] is: Don’t pat someone on the back for being thin, because what you’re then doing is perpetuating a false narrative about beauty, and that’s not right.”
Cohen has also applied his interview lessons to his emceeing roles on Bravo’s reality TV reunion specials.
“I think I’ve gotten more comfortable and more verbal in the last few years, frankly, expressing myself and little bits of opinions,” he told Today, noting he doesn’t see many other hosts who would be able to follow in his footsteps. “There are a couple people that I’ve thought would be really good, but some of them are super opinionated. And if the Housewives are still going, you have to figure out a way to be somewhat of an island if you’re going to be sitting down with Housewives that you’ve been super vocal that you don’t like.”
