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Anderson Cooper, 56, and his longtime friend, Andy Cohen, 55, are teaming up to co-host their seventh New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen on CNN come December 31, 2023! The Bravo executive took to Instagram on December 13 to promote the CNN special with a hilarious trailer. “We’re back!!!! See you on New Year’s Eve on CNN (also streaming on Max)… We’re gonna ring in ‘24 BIG!!” Andy captioned the clip ahead of the celebratory show.
Before Andy and the Anderson Cooper 360° host began ringing in the New Year annually on CNN, they were friends off-camera. Their friendship even goes back to the 1990s! Ahead of the December 31 special, below is a full timeline of Andy and Anderson’s friendship, including their park hangouts with their respective children!
Anderson Cooper & Andy Cohen Met in The 1990s
The 55-year-old and Anderson’s friendship first began when they met in the 1990s. The two TV personalities recently appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in December 2023 and re-visited photos from their younger years. During the trip down memory lane, Anderson clarified that he didn’t initially like Andy. “I wanted nothing to do with him,” he joked. “We went on vacation together and found he is actually a wonderful person and the life of the party.” Andy then chimed in and said that he “found” that Anderson is “more lifelike” than he appears.
Anderson & Andy’s Blind Date Story
Andy and the Astor author were first introduced to each other after their friends set them up on a blind date. Despite the set-up, Andy and his bestie clarified that they never actually went on a date with each other. Several years ago, the two made an appearance on The Tonight Show and Anderson revealed how quickly he knew he didn’t want to date Andy.
“We had a phone call to set up the date, and I knew within 45 seconds I was never going on a date with Andy Cohen,” he said at the time. “He violated my cardinal rule, which is he asked me about my mom [Gloria Vanderbilt] within the first minute of talking to me.” The reality TV producer then quipped, “I wanted to date the Vanderbilt boy! I was excited!”
Anderson Cooper & Andy Cohen’s ‘New Year’s Eve Live’ Specials
The dynamic TV duo began co-hosting the NYE show together in 2017 after Kathy Griffin departed the show ahead of that year’s special. In recent years, the two have gone viral online for their hilarious moments taking shots of liquor on live TV. Andy slammed the former New York City mayor Bill de Blasio during the December 2021 special and went viral for his rant (watch here). Later, in December 2022, Andy and Anderson were instructed to not drink during the CNN special, as reported by Variety. As for 2023, Andy publicly asked CNN to allow them to drink during the special, as reported by E! News in November.
Anderson Cooper & Andy Cohen’s Playdates With Their Kids
Aside from The Daddy Diaries author and Anderson’s careers, they are often spotted together during their kids’ playdates in New York City. On New Year’s Day in 2023, the two pals celebrated the start of a new year at the playground. Andy shared a video of the sweet moment via Instagram and captioned it, “NYE Recap @ the playground….”
Prior to that, in October 2022, Andy shared a video of Anderson’s playground ensemble that featured a blue jacket and matching blue shirt. Andy is a proud dad to two kids including Benjamin (b. February 2019) and daughter Lucy (b. April 2022). Meanwhile, Anderson is a proud dad to two sons including Wyatt (b. April 2020) and Sebastian (b. February 2022).
