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Credit: Sara De Boer/startraksphoto, Bravo
Andy Cohen spoke of the future of the Real Housewives franchise while filming a live episode of Watch What Happens Live amid Bravo Fan Fest 2024 in Miami at the end of last month.
Before addressing the recent firing of the Vanderpump Rules cast, who will move on from the series ahead of season 12 as a new group of SURvers moves in, Andy, 56, revealed if a new city would soon be added to the Housewives world and confirmed whether he’d consider changing the show’s name.
“We’re always kind of fishing around. But I think we’re in a pretty good place right now. But stay tuned. You never know,” Andy admitted of a possible new addition on the December 1 episode of the WWHL: After Show.
As for a rebrand, potentially prompted by the fact that many of the ladies of the franchise are no longer married and have their own businesses, Andy was not on board.
“I think that would not be a good idea. This is a brand that is beloved worldwide,” he noted.
The following day, on his radio show, Andy reacted to the Pump Rules reboot.
“I have to say, this is, first of all, [it was] the absolute right thing to do,” Andy stated on the December 2 episode of SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live. “I am so impressed with how production kept the show going over the last, I’m gonna say four years, when slowly but surely none of them were working at SUR. The entire point of the show morphed and changed as it went on.”
Although James Kennedy, 32, stayed connected to the restaurant with frequent DJ events, he now has a residency in Las Vegas, and other members of the former cast have found success elsewhere, with several, including Scheana Shay, 39, Lala Kent, 34, and Tom Schwartz, 42, moving on to The Valley.
“What you were left with was really just a few pieces of what the original Vanderpump Rules was, so I think this is a very smart programming move. It is not often that you have [11 seasons],” Andy shared. “It’s what I keep saying about [The Real Housewives of New York City]. We had 13 seasons of a show that was so beloved and so great, and it went on and on, and sometimes for a show, it’s the end of the road, or it’s time to curve or swerve or pivot, and that’s where we were with RHONY, and that is what is happening with Vanderpump Rules.”
Andy went on to admit that he was “so impressed” with the former stars of Pump Rules, as well as the series’ production team.
“They were always very much themselves and that’s what made that show so entertaining and surprising season after season,” he explained.
Andy then suggested that the end of the cast’s run could’ve been different if it weren’t for “Scandoval,” which saw Tom Sandoval, 43, being exposed for cheating on Ariana Madix, 39, with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss, 30.
“If the Scandoval, as it was called, did not happen, that may have been, you know, I don’t know. I don’t know. That could have wound up being kind of the swan song,” he said. “But also if you look at the last episode of last season, it really did, watch the last 10 minutes or five minutes, it felt like an absolute series finale, so congratulations.”
