Andy Cohen is giving Us a Bravo State of the Union — kicking off with what Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga’s feud could mean for their futures on The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
When asked whether he could imagine a scenario in which either Teresa, 51, or Melissa, 44, don’t return for season 14 of RHONJ, Cohen, 55, exclusively told Us Weekly, “I can imagine anything.”
The talk show host then admitted that it’s “hard” to picture the reality series without both of the Bravolebrities. During the season 13 reunion, which aired last month, Teresa told her sister-in-law that she couldn’t “wait to never see your f—king face again after today,” adding, “You’re leaving.”
Melissa — who wed Joe Gorga in 2004 — previously denied that she has any plans to exit RHONJ. “I have no intentions on leaving,” she said during a May episode of her “On Display With Melissa Gorga” podcast.
Cohen, meanwhile, told Us of the pair’s “level of hatred” for each other during the reunion was “at a 10,” and said that watching the sisters-in-law spar was “one of” the saddest reunion moments of his career.
The Gorgas and the Guidices have had their share of ups and downs over the years, but the family drama came to a head last year over the Standing Strong author’s alleged claims that Melissa cheated on Joe, 43 — and the Gorgas’ subsequent decision not to attend Teresa’s August 2022 wedding to Luis Ruelas.
In addition to commenting on the RHONJ drama, Cohen teased how filming for season 13 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which began production earlier this year, went without Lisa Rinna. (The former soap star, 59, announced her exit from the franchise after eight seasons in January).
“[It] went great. It’s fresh, it’s new, it’s fun,” he shared.
Rinna, for her part, spoke out about her negative experience filming season 12 of the Bravo series during a January conversation with Interview magazine.
“I f—king hated this year. For a lot of reasons. My mom died, we all know that,” she told the outlet of her mother Lois’ November 2021 death. “But that’s not the biggest reason. The story just didn’t get told as two-sidedly as I would’ve liked. How about that?”
She continued: “Something has gotten to the housewife universe because of what’s going on in the world, and it’s reflected in the way the fans react to the world of Housewives. And I just think it’s unhealthy. It wasn’t working for me. It wasn’t right for me.”
As the Rinnivation author leaves her Housewives days behind, six women are gearing up to begin their journey with the franchise. The cast for the forthcoming reboot of The Real Housewives of New York — which premieres next month — was announced at BravoCon in October 2022.
“Once we started shooting with the women, I was like, ‘Oh, we cast the right group,” Cohen told Us of newcomers Sai De Silva, Ubah Hassan, Erin Dana Lichy, Jessel Taank, Jenna Lyons and Brynn Whitfield. ”I’m excited for people to get to know them, and I think once people hear their backstories also, it’s really powerful.”
The Emmy winner also commented on the biggest Bravo story of the year — Vanderpump Rules stars Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss’ affair, which took place while the TomTom cofounder, 40, was dating Ariana Madix.
“I think we’re all taking a permanent break,” Cohen said of the scandal, which played out during the season 10 finale of the series in May. As for whether Leviss, 28, will return to the show next season, the Daddy Diaries author said that he “can’t speculate” about what’s best for the former pageant queen, who checked herself into a mental health treatment facility in April. “It sounds like she’s taking care of herself and that’s what she should be doing,” he said.
In addition to stepping back from Scandoval, the Boston University alum is distancing himself from Jen Shah‘s money laundering scandal by getting rid of a gift from the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, 49. (Shah was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison in January after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud).
“I donated it,” Cohen told Us of a baby Dior dress that the Utah native gifted his 13-month-old daughter, Lucy.
Although Cohen has been “working really hard” lately between his Bravo duties and his Sirius XM radio show, he’s looking forward to taking a break in early July to spend more time with Lucy and son Benjamin, 4. The New York native will also have more time to make cocktails with his favorite mixer, FRESCA®.
“I’ve been the number one FRESCA mix fan forever,” said Cohen. “There’s a new variety pack of vodka spritz flavors out with mango, mixed berry citrus and pineapple citrus. I love the mango. This has been kind of my best kept secret that I’ve been mixing FRESCA with alcohol for so long, and we’re encouraging people to share their secret [recipes] at frescamixed.com and they can win a chance for a trip for four to the Hamptons — which is major — or a virtual kiki with me and we can just gossip and I’ll tell them whatever they wanna know.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
