Anything can happen, and usually does, during ‘Watch What Happens Live’
Two miniature horses, Aidan and Pearl, stood on the patio of a small TV studio in SoHo on a sweltering evening earlier this month, one more equine guest than the producers of “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” expected. They were part of some of the taping of the late night talk show’s 15th anniversary special and apparently booking a horse also requires booking an emotional support horse.
Andy Cohen, the show’s host and creator, brought his two children Ben, 5, and Lucy, 2, to meet the miniature horses as producers whispered questions about the surplus. He soon went back in to provide a different kind of emotional support for the show’s people. Cohen floated effortlessly between posing for photos with guests, including Sonja Morgan, a mainstay of “The Real Housewives of New York” who arrived in a diamond-encrusted (she said they’re fake) tiara, and listening to his instructions. producers, while also recording behind-the-scenes footage for social media.
It was a lot of bickering, even for Cohen — the chief moderator and rabble-rouser of “WWHL,” the recap show that somehow manages to lure A-list celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Jennifer Lawrence to gawk at the antics of the stars in Bravo’s ever-expanding reality universe. Five nights a week, viewers can Oscar winners reenact scenes from “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City”; so-called Bravo-lebrities stories about freshly aired dirty laundry; or Cohen and Hillary Clinton drinks from a shot skia ski with shot glasses glued to it, with which several people can take a shot at the same time.
The show, and the reality TV universe it obsesses over, has enjoyed a streak of scandalous behavior that is coming under scrutiny as Bravo is currently facing multiple lawsuits. Former cast members from several series have accused the network and producers of racial discrimination, running a booze-filled workplace and failing to properly respond to reports of harassment and assault. After an internal investigation, the network said it had cleared Cohen of allegations made against him by two former Housewws, including those detailed in a lawsuit from a former cast member who alleged that the show’s producers encouraged her to regress to boost ratings. Cohen also apologized because she sent a video message to a former cast member saying it was sexual harassment.
Many of the regular segments on “WWHL” involve alcohol: Each episode begins with Cohen revealing a word of the night that viewers can drink to whenever it’s uttered; each ends with the audience being encouraged to drink responsibly. Regardless, Cohen and his team maintained that drinking on set was optional and not essential to the show.
“Fun is the culture at ‘WWHL,'” Cohen said. “Some guests choose to have a cocktail, some don’t — there’s absolutely no pressure.”
“Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” began as a 2009 web series filmed in a non-air-conditioned studio and has grown into the highest-rated late-night talk show on cable, propelling Bravo’s reality TV shows to the forefront of pop culture. We spoke with Cohen and the show’s producers and went behind the scenes to learn how.
It started with Andy’s emails
As Bravo’s vice president of original programming in 2004, Cohen regularly emailed what he called “sly reports” to his bosses about the shows they were producing. He turned it into a blog, and as the posts became popular, Cohen began making guest appearances on network morning shows as a television pundit.
In 2009, Michael Davies, a Bravo producer, saw Cohen hosting a reunion show for “Flipping Out” and offered him a studio and a small budget to start a show combining “Top Chef” and “Project Runway” midnight were repeated, after those series aired new episodes.
The idea was that “WWHL” would emulate the conversations that took place in the heyday of Twitter, the platform now known as X, where fans shared their opinions about shows they had just watched.
“It really was about Andy’s sensibilities and point of view, because he knew the shows inside and out and what fans wanted to hear more about,” said Deirdre Connolly, the executive producer of “WWHL” since its inception.
As audience members and Bravo-lebrities filed into the SoHo studio for the anniversary taping, Cohen paid the same attention to the show’s details. He asked producers for their input on the best way to gently ask “Real Housewives of Atlanta” returnee Porsha Williams about her relationship status. (She filed for divorce as the current season began filming and the film is still in production.) When producers alerted him that Phaedra Parks had brought “Love Island” star Ekin-Su Culculoglu along as her plus one, Cohen fact-checked the exact wording of Parks’ infamous “Traitors” catchphrase, “Oh lord, sweet baby Jesus, not Ekin-Su,” so he could use it on air.
Leaning on the messiness
Almost every episode of ‘WWHL’ guarantees unpredictability – whether it’s Cohen’s probing questions or games designed to put guests first.
Cohen pointed an episode from 2011 that became a favorite for him and the viewers, although he initially feared the show had gone off the rails.
When actresses Regina King and Jackée Harry, castmates of the ’80s TV comedy “227” arrived at the “WWHL” studio long before King became a movie star, it was clear they had been drinking. Cohen initially panicked.
“I remember during the first commercial break, in my head, I felt like I had no control over the show,” Cohen said. “Deirdre said in my ear, ‘This is amazing — we’re trending at number one worldwide on Twitter.’”
The salacious and somewhat chaotic episode taught Cohen a lesson: “Always lean into what’s happening, even if it seems a little nasty or especially if it seems a little messy,” he said.
Since then, Cohen has left room for messiness – clips online show how unguarded guests can be, with Whoopi Goldberg teaching Cohen how to roll a joint and Shaquille O’Neal responded coyly to the the host’s question about some of his, er, anatomy.
During the taping of the anniversary episode earlier this month, Morgan (of “The Real Housewives of New York”), tiara glittering atop her head, became the primary source of mayhem. At one point, she walked off the set during a commercial break, angry about … something. Producers tried to lure her back to the recording studio, while Jerry O’Connell, another guest, bet the audience that she wouldn’t return. He lost — but it wasn’t until Cohen himself spoke to Morgan that she agreed to come back.
When shooting resumed moments later, as Cohen tried to introduce a video montage, Morgan interrupted: “I think Andy should be mayor.” Cohen shushed her and during the next commercial break, employees placed a glass of water next to Morgan’s chair.
Interviews create headlines
This messiness helps increase the show’s popularity and relevance beyond the network, with Cohen directing conversations that simply wouldn’t fly on other talk shows.
“His unique ability is to go there — one of his trademarks is asking provocative questions,” says Nick Rizzo, a supervising producer on the show. “And what I don’t think he gets enough credit for is that he does a fantastic job of also listening to guests and then asking the follow-up questions and getting wild confessions as a result.”
John Oliver, the talk show host, political pundit and recurring “WWHL” guest, made Internet news headlines for a week with an appearance in March. After delving into the long divorce arc of two The Real Housewives of Miami cast members, Cohen asked if Oliver was fed up with the Kate Middleton rumors amid speculation about her absence from public appearances. Oliver joked that he thought she was dead, and Variety, Business Insider, Vulture, Vanity Fair and Page Six all wrote about his joking statement.
A-listers love Bravo lebrities
The show reached a new stratosphere as A-list celebrities entered the clubhouse. Winfrey’s 2013 visit, Cohen said, helped validate the show.
“The fact that she came to our little clubhouse in SoHo and thought we were important enough was really an incredible moment, both personally and professionally,” he said.
Since then, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez and 50 Cent have all stopped by Cohen’s clubhouse as part of press tours. But they do so with the understanding that Bravo shows and their stars are the central topic of conversation.
In a recurring segment, “Clubhouse Playhouse,” mainstream stars reenact scenes from Bravo shows, bringing those moments to new viewers through shareable clips. One of the most popular videos stars Jon Hamm and John Slattery in ‘Mad Men’ took on a scene from season 10 of “Vanderpump Rules,” when cast member James Kennedy memorably called Tom Sandoval “a worm with a mustache,” with Hamm using a British accent.
“I would say once a year I email Deirdre and the team and say, ‘Can you remind everyone that we can do anything on this show?'” Cohen said. “And no idea is stupid enough and that we’ve always pushed the boundaries and we need to keep pushing the boundaries.”
