Andy Cohen on Top 5 Guests He Was “Scared” to Have on WWHL

Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo

Andy Cohen revealed the top five people he was “most scared” to have on Watch What Happens Live during Sunday’s episode of his late-night talk show.

After welcoming fellow late-nighter Jimmy Fallon, 50, to his long-running series, Andy, 56, named a few A-listers and a couple of Bravolebrities, including Real Housewives of Salt Lake City cast member Mary Cosby, 51, and the late Elsa “Mama Elsa” Patton, mother of The Real Housewives of Miami‘s Marysol Patton, 57.

“Coming in to number five, it’s [Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal], because I wasn’t sure I had the balls to ask him how big his d*ck is. Nevertheless, I persisted,” Andy began on the October 13 episode of WWHL.

“Number four is the late great Mama Elsa because she had to be driven up to New York for the show and we all wanted to make sure she was safe,” he continued. “We miss you Mama Elsa.”

As fans will recall, Elsa died in 2019 at the age of 84 after appearing alongside Marysol on the early seasons of RHOM and also starring with Marysol on their short-lived web series, Havana Elsa.

As for who else made the list, Andy admitted he was “freaked out” when his number three, Mariah Carey, 55, asked him to swap chairs so she could show off her good side.

“Our number two is Mary M. Cosby. She’s as unpredictable as her on-again, off-again love of Filet-O-Fish sandwiches [and] we love her for it,” he noted.

No surprise, it was Oprah Winfrey, 70, who nabbed the top spot.

“The number one guest I was scared to host in the clubhouse was Oprah Winfrey because if an icon like Oprah doesn’t make you nervous, You might be a zombie,” he reasoned.

Andy then noted, “By the way, Shaq never came back. Was it something I said?”

While appearing on Naomi Campbell‘s podcast in March 2021, Andy revealed that when it came to getting Oprah on WWHL, she was the most difficult guest to book — and a favorite.

“Oprah was someone we worked on for a long time,” Andy explained on No Filter With Naomi. “I have to say, Oprah was really [a favorite]. When she did my show, that meant a lot to me personally. I watched almost every episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. I loved that show. I thought it was so well-produced. I admired how she interviewed people. Every episode was a big deal.”

One year later, during an appearance at BravoCon, Andy admitted to having regrets about one of the “cringe” questions he asked her.

“When I asked Oprah if she’d ever swam in the lady pond… I asked it so poorly, I had just come off the greatest half-hour with Oprah. We’re running out of time, and I’m about to do the Mazel of the Day. And I decide, ‘Let me throw this out now.’ Maybe I’ll throw a bomb out,” Andy recalled. “[And] she goes, ‘No.’”

Watch What Happens Live airs Sundays through Thursdays on Bravo.