ET is one-on-one with 'Real Housewives' maestro Andy Cohen to touch base on the franchises after BravoCon 2022.
BravoCon 2022 brought out the network's biggest stars for three days of non-stop fan fun -- and ET capped it all off with a one-on-one chat with the Housewives maestro himself, Andy Cohen.
Speaking on stage at the Manhattan Center's Hammerstein Ballroom, where he filmed a week's worth of Watch What Happens Live episodes over the weekend, Andy offers up a "State of the Housewives Union" to ET. Read on for a city-by-city breakdown of where things go from here for the first ladies of Bravo.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
The ladies of the 90210 were some of the first to hit the main stage over the weekend, with one 'Wife -- Lisa Rinna -- walking out to boos from the crowd.
"The truth is, I love that our fans are so passionate," Andy remarks. "It's usually my feeling, a lot of times people come after me on Twitter about something, they had wish I said something that I didn't say, or something that they are mad at me about. I do find that when I meet people in person, they're always pretty gracious -- and they may say, like, 'I'm pissed at you at what you did...' you know? I think that her getting booed was unfortunate, because I, as one of the people who's a host of this, you want everyone to feel welcome. I thought that she, in her animatable Lisa Rinna style, turned it around. She said it, her whole career she's never been booed."
"It energized her, she was excited about it," he continues. "So I thought, you know what? Good for you. Take it on the chin, and she took it like a champ, and I give it up to her. I always give it up to the Housewives who really get a lot of energy fueled at them that is not always positive, and she certainly took a lot of that energy and did what she had to do to get her head around it. So, good for her."
Parts 2 and 3 of the season 12 reunion are sure to cause more polarization among viewers, as Lisa and Kathy Hilton go head to head and discuss the latter's alleged, off-camera meltdown on the cast trip to Aspen, Colorado. In the trailer for the reunion, Lisa tells Andy to "put me on pause," a phrase made famous by Dorinda Medley, who adopted the euphemism in place of the term "fired" when she parted ways with The Real Housewives of New York City.
"We kinda have those discussions now through the end of, after when the reunions air," Andy shares of casting changes. "I think the key to the success to this thing, that it’s been going for 16 years, is that we take people out, we put people in, and we try to keep it fresh. In terms of specifics of Rinna and anyone else, I think everything is on the table, but nothing to announce about that right now."
While walking the press line at BravoCon, Kathy told reporters she's not interested in coming back to the show if the cast remains the same. Reading between the lines, that means she's asking the network to pick her or Lisa.
"Listen, it's been done before," Andy says of cast ultimatums. "It doesn't always work for that person. I mean, we have to see who wants to come back. We have to see what we're going to do. There are a lot of questions still to be answered. And so, I'm not surprised that she had that opinion. I'm sure there are other people in the group who don't want to come back if other people in the group are coming back. So that's usually the place we're at right about now."
It's also unclear if Diana Jenkins will return to RHOBH. The Serbian-born socialite's proven to be a controversial figure among viewers, despite checking a lot of boxes on a casting wish list (money, looks and personal story). She did no press during season 12's run, and only appeared virtually at the reunion.
"She very confidently said that she didn't watch the show before she came on," Andy notes. "I think that was maybe a situation where it would have been better to watch the show, because I think when it started airing, also, it would have-- she would have understood what was it was going to be."
While viewers didn't seen to connect with Diana, many of the women on the cast did (save for Sutton Stracke and Garcelle Beauvais), suggesting that something simply didn't translate through the screen.
"The interesting thing also about Diana, not only does she have the lifestyle, she's legitimately-- she's known Rinna for a while," he says. "She legitimately has connections with this group."
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.
The Real Housewives of New York City
The biggest news break of the weekend was Andy's reveal of the new women inheriting The Real Housewives of New York City's golden apples: Sai De Silva, Ubah Hassan, Jenna Lyons, Erin Dana Lichy, Lizzy Savetsky, Jessel Taank and Brynn Whitfield. It's the first part of the network's plan to revive the beloved franchise, rebooting the flagship show with an all-new cast.
"We were looking for a group of friends who were actually connected and who are vibrant, living in, all over New York City with interesting jobs and interesting relationships, and we found them with this group," Andy promises. "There’s all different types and I'm really excited, their energy and excitement and humor, it’s gonna be a whole new RHONY."
With that announcement out of the way, Andy says the network is ready to press "play" on the second part of its RHONY relaunch, the "legacy" spinoff centered on cast members from the show's first 13 seasons. Dorinda crashed a panel at BravoCon to ask Andy for an update on her return, starting a crowd chant of her catchphrase, "Make it nice!"
"Not since Jill Zarin confronted me on the air about why she was fired have I been confronted like that by a Housewife," Andy admits. "I loved it. So listen, it's an interesting segue, because, yes, we were waiting to lock the new cast of the new RHONY before we really got into who's gonna be on Legacy. We now, Monday, we're gonna start getting into that now. ... We're slowly pressing play on Monday. We're taking out the pen and paper on Monday."
The Real Housewives of Dallas
The much-rumored announcement that didn't come over BravoCon weekend was about The Real Housewives of Dallas. It's been more than a year since the Texas-set series wrapped up its fifth season, the network placing the show on indefinite hiatus after a lackluster year that devolved into racist attacks against newcomer Dr. Tiffany Moon online. Still, fans were anticipating some sort of update, especially with franchise star D'Andra Simmons and her mom, Dee, popping up at the convention.
"I think it's on the way back burner," Andy confesses of a Dallas revival. "Yeah. I mean, listen, Miami was on the way back burner for many years!"
The Real Housewives of Miami
Speaking of RHOM, fans did get their first look at season 5, coming to Peacock this December.
"Miami was always-- we always had the audience, was always so passionate," Andy says. "It was the question that I got all the time, 'When are you bringing back Miami?' And Miami is such a perfect Housewives city, and I think you will see this season on Miami. It's just phenomenal. It's a great season. It's very dramatic. It's really funny. There's some shifting alliances, and there's a lot for viewers to sink their teeth into."
The Real Housewives of New Jersey
While Bravo lovers didn't get a sneak peek at RHONJ's upcoming 13th season, they did get plenty of made-for-TV drama as Teresa Giudice's feud with her brother, Joe Gorga, and his wife/her co-star, Melissa, made for gossipy fodder all weekend long. Teresa and Melissa were kept apart all three days, as a to-be-revealed altercation is set to play out in the new batch of episodes.
"Jersey's excellent," Andy proclaims. "We've got some new blood. It feels like the Jersey we love and, obviously, there's some major shifts in the Teresa-Melissa-Joe Gorga relationship. But we've got some some new women in the mix who really energize the show, but they feel perfectly Jersey and they fit in the group really well."
As for where the group goes from here, Andy will only say, "I don't think it's gonna go in anywhere good anytime soon, unfortunately." He's not ready to make any predictions about cast changes for a potential season 14.
"That's a conversation for, like, a year from now," he explains. "We have a full season ready to go. We have a reunion we haven't done, I mean, a lot can happen."
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City
Bravo's Utah-based cast also brought plenty of drama with them to the weekend, a verbal fight breaking out onstage during the group's panel featuring Heather Gay, Whitney Rose, Lisa Barlow and Meredith Marks, and co-star Jen Shah popping up in the city, despite being removed from official events in the wake of her pleading guilty to federal fraud charges.
"She sure did," Andy offers when Jen's NYC pop-up comes up, neither confirming nor denying she was banned from the convention.
As for Jen's future on RHOSLC, that's a question mark. She's set to face sentencing later this year, and could receive as many as 30 years in prison. Timing-wise, that could all unfold before the cast is even ready to film their season 3 reunion.
"There's not much to say about that except that I certainly have a lot of questions for her, and I would love to ask them and have the opportunity to do so," Andy says. "And I hope that we can figure that out."
With Jen potentially out, fans wonder if Mary Cosby -- a breakout star who opted out of filming season 3 due to issues with numerous women in the cast, including Jen -- could return.
"We have a whole season to get through," Andy responds, avoiding an official update on Mary. "We have a reunion. We're only three episodes in. So let us get through this. And we'll see where we go."
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.
The Real Housewives of Dubai
While Bravo has yet to announce an official season 2 pickup for its first international edition of Real Housewives, the fact that the entire cast was on hard for BravoCon is a good sign the show is coming back.
"I hope so," Andy exclaims. "I think we have a lot to grow on. [Chanel Ayan] was telling me how she and Caroline Stanbury have really mended fences, and I think that the two of them could wind up being a great duo, actually. And I would look forward to seeing them together. I think they will be a lot of fun together."
It's likely the RHODubai cast will expand in a sophomore year, possibly with the addition of a city-jumping 'Wife, The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Phaedra Parks, who just bought a home in the UAE.
"There are a couple options in play for Phaedra," Andy teases, "and I absolutely love her, I'm a huge fan of hers, always have been. I was so sad to see her leave Atlanta and so, I think Ultimate Girls Trip brought her back into the fold. It was great to see her. There’s a couple ideas that we're kicking around with her."
The Real Housewives of Atlanta
It's unlikely that one of those options is a return to RHOA, seeing as longtime star Kandi Burruss has made it clear she's not interested in sharing the screen with her one-time pal ever again after their falling out in season 9. However, a former face or two could pop up on the in-production 15th season; OG star Shereé Whitfield campaigned to ET to bring Kim Zolciak Biermann back, while Drew Sidora said she's working to get Porsha Williams to return.
"The door's open for Porsha," Andy confirms. "Kim, I don't know that Kim would want to come back, to be honest with you. You know, I always love Kim, and I always love an OG coming back."
The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Season 3
Even if Porsha doesn't pop back up on RHOA, she is front and center on the soon-to-premiere third season of Peacock's mash-up series, The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. Fans on the ground at BravoCon got a first look at the trailer, which sees Porsha facing off with The Real Housewives of New York City alum Leah McSweeney, who seems to get a bit of a redemption season after a not-so-well received sophomore outing on RHONY.
Leah and Porsha are joined by RHOSLC's Whitney and Heather, The Real Housewives of Potomac's Gizelle Bryant and Candiace Dillard and The Real Housewives of Miami's Alexia Nepola and Marysol Patton on the Thailand-based vacay.
"These girls trips are really social experiments," Andy notes. "You never know how they're gonna go. This one was just wild in so many directions. I don't think people are ready for it, to be honest. I mean, you thought [season 2 at] Bluestone Manor was wild?" Get ready for Thailand!
While ET couldn't get into everything with Andy, we did unpack a lot more with the stars of the shows themselves. Check out the video and links below for more from BravoCon, and tune into the final two episodes of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen's BravoCon-filmed episodes airing Wednesday and Thursday night on Bravo.
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