Andy Cohen’s ‘Daddy Diaries’ Book: Juiciest Real Housewives Mentions, New Year’s Eve Drama and More

Credit: Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock

Andy Cohen’s ‘Daddy Diaries' Book: Juiciest Real Housewives Mentions, New Year's Eve Drama and More

From New Year’s Eve to behind-the-scenes of Bravo. Andy Cohen documented 2022 in his new book, Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up, and Us Weekly is rounding up the biggest nuggets for reality TV fans. The 54-year-old host began his latest memoir reeling from his infamous drunken rant about Bill de Blasio (he wasn’t a fan of the then-Mayor of New York City) on CNN’s New Year’s Eve show. While he got a lot of positive feedback about the political tirade — including a text from Tyler Cameron (keep scrolling for more!) — he revealed that he didn’t hear back from Ryan Seacrest following his criticism of the ABC broadcast. “If you look behind me, you’ll see Ryan Seacrest’s group of losers performing,” Cohen said on air at the time as Journey performed without former frontman Steve Perry. “I’m sorry but if you’re watching ABC, you’re watching nothing.” Two months later, he and Seacrest crossed paths for the first time at Mark Consuelos’ birthday party and the American Idol host didn’t bring up the NYE diss (or his unanswered text from Cohen) at the bash. As some fans know, the drama led to CNN banning alcohol from the 2022-23 broadcast — a move that Cohen joked “only” Seacrest thought was a good idea after he read the former Live cohost’s interview about the decision as Erika Jayne and Chrissy Teigen told him to drink anyway and Tamra Judge suggested he do mushrooms. [sendtonews type="float" key="FnvXu7ao6s-2827134-14453"] Throughout the Daddy Diaries, Cohen navigates how to balance life with son Ben and daughter Lucy (Kyle Richards and Kandi Burruss were the only Housewives who knew he was expecting baby No. 2 before his daughter was born via surrogate in April 2022) and his various jobs, including hosting Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen and producing Real Housewives. There’s endless references to his daily interactions with the Housewives — including Jill Zarin texting to ask for producers to update her WWHL headshot, Brandi Glanville reaching out to be “set up with the captain from Below Deck Down Under” (Jason Chambers) and RHOC alums Alexis Bellino and Meghan King trying to score spots on Ultimate Girls Trip. Cohen also shares his dinner dates with A-list pals John Mayer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kelly Ripa, Anderson Cooper and more. "Anderson read it, and he loved it. He thinks it's comical," Cohen told USA Today ahead of the May 9 release. "I worked hard to try to name as many names as I could and be as dishy as I could. I'm a good editor for myself, and I push myself to be vulnerable and be gossipy and be self-deprecating, and all the things I know I need to be for the book to be a success." Scroll through for more noteworthy moments from Cohen’s book:

Credit: Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock

Andy Cohen’s ‘Daddy Diaries' Book: Juiciest Real Housewives Mentions, New Year's Eve Drama and More

From New Year’s Eve to behind-the-scenes of Bravo. Andy Cohen documented 2022 in his new book, Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up, and Us Weekly is rounding up the biggest nuggets for reality TV fans. The 54-year-old host began his latest memoir reeling from his infamous drunken rant about Bill de Blasio (he wasn’t a fan of the then-Mayor of New York City) on CNN’s New Year’s Eve show. While he got a lot of positive feedback about the political tirade — including a text from Tyler Cameron (keep scrolling for more!) — he revealed that he didn’t hear back from Ryan Seacrest following his criticism of the ABC broadcast. “If you look behind me, you’ll see Ryan Seacrest’s group of losers performing,” Cohen said on air at the time as Journey performed without former frontman Steve Perry. “I’m sorry but if you’re watching ABC, you’re watching nothing.” Two months later, he and Seacrest crossed paths for the first time at Mark Consuelos’ birthday party and the American Idol host didn’t bring up the NYE diss (or his unanswered text from Cohen) at the bash. As some fans know, the drama led to CNN banning alcohol from the 2022-23 broadcast — a move that Cohen joked “only” Seacrest thought was a good idea after he read the former Live cohost’s interview about the decision as Erika Jayne and Chrissy Teigen told him to drink anyway and Tamra Judge suggested he do mushrooms. [sendtonews type="float" key="FnvXu7ao6s-2827134-14453"] Throughout the Daddy Diaries, Cohen navigates how to balance life with son Ben and daughter Lucy (Kyle Richards and Kandi Burruss were the only Housewives who knew he was expecting baby No. 2 before his daughter was born via surrogate in April 2022) and his various jobs, including hosting Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen and producing Real Housewives. There’s endless references to his daily interactions with the Housewives — including Jill Zarin texting to ask for producers to update her WWHL headshot, Brandi Glanville reaching out to be “set up with the captain from Below Deck Down Under” (Jason Chambers) and RHOC alums Alexis Bellino and Meghan King trying to score spots on Ultimate Girls Trip. Cohen also shares his dinner dates with A-list pals John Mayer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kelly Ripa, Anderson Cooper and more. "Anderson read it, and he loved it. He thinks it's comical," Cohen told USA Today ahead of the May 9 release. "I worked hard to try to name as many names as I could and be as dishy as I could. I'm a good editor for myself, and I push myself to be vulnerable and be gossipy and be self-deprecating, and all the things I know I need to be for the book to be a success." Scroll through for more noteworthy moments from Cohen’s book:

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‘RHOBH’

Lisa Rinna contacted Cohen in February 2022 after the RHOBH cast’s now-infamous trip to Aspen. He wrote that she was “really upset” and planning to bring up her confrontation with Kathy Hilton on the show despite Bravo not having any footage of the alleged meltdown. Cohen asked Rinna if she was the one leaking the story line to TMZ and she “insisted” it wasn’t her. When the drama started to air, Cohen ran into Paris Hilton and her husband, Carter Reum, who asked him to “protect” Kathy.

Cohen recalled Rinna quitting the show after taping the season 12 reunion and then backtracking her comments. After she was boo’d at BravoCon, Cohen wrote that the Melrose Place alum "should go on pause but absolutely come back” amid her “toxic” relationship with the show.

Rinna’s rep released a statement after the release of Daddy Diaries, telling E! News that the actress — who announced her exit earlier this year —  is “not 'on pause.’”

"There was never any discussion with anyone about that concept," the rep told the outlet. "Her contract ended, and the parties mutually agreed not to engage on a new one. She felt her time on the show had run its course and she was more than happy to move on. And she still does not regret it."

Elsewhere, Cohen noted Diana Jenkins became the first Housewife he never met in person after she was sick for the reunion and didn’t return for season 13 and recalled Dorit Kemsley giving Kate Chastain advice she didn’t ask for during a trip to France.

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‘RHOA’

NeNe Leakes sued Cohen, NBCUniversal, Bravo and production companies True Entertainment and Truly Original in 2022, accusing the host and network of racial discrimination. “What a sad end to a relationship with someone I adored and put on a pedestal for years,” he wrote. (Leakes dropped the suit in August 2022.)

While Jayne texted him, “Lawsuits, tag you’re it!” he also heard from Cynthia Bailey and Garcelle Beauvais about the filing and got voice notes from Kim Zolciak.

Credit: Chris Haston/Bravo

‘RHOSLC’

Cohen kicked off New Year’s Eve 2021-22 with an hour-long chat trying to convince Mary Cosby to attend the season 2 reunion (she didn’t) and explaining to Jen Shah’s team that he didn’t give Jayne the questions in advance at the reunion where she was under fire for estranged husband Tom Girardi’s legal woes. In the end, Cohen and Bravo stood strong and didn’t give Shah — who is currently serving a six-and-a-half-year sentence in prison for wire fraud — the questions early and the host was in awe of her showing up in purple velvet as “easy breezy as I’ve ever seen her” for the March 2022 reunion.

“It was a totally different energy from Erika, who has faced no charges, but was considered the villain,” he wrote.

Shah’s legal battle (she pleaded guilty in July 2022 after insisting she was innocent) is a theme throughout the book, with Cohen struggling with getting a Dior dress and headband as a baby gift from the disgraced reality star. “On one hand, I was touched that she thought of me with all she has going on … but I didn’t love how much she must have spent and like, is this money coming from people she ripped off? Do I need to turn this baby Dior dress into someone?” he wrote.

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‘RHONJ’

As Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga’s feud continues to play out on season 13 of RHONJ, Cohen feared that the OG was “over” the show after the season 12 reunion. “I said she might decide to leave and come back in a few years,” he recalled telling her in March 2022.

While Caroline Manzo was interested in rejoining the series after Cohen reached out ahead of season 13, Giudice told the boss that she wouldn’t film with Manzo. In the end, he said the network couldn’t come up with an agreement for Manzo’s salary anyway.

Ahead of BravoCon 2022, Cohen confessed Giudice called him and said she would never speak to Melissa and Joe Gorga again, which led to the RHONJ panels being split in two. After there was a fight in a hotel lobby between the Gorgas and Jennifer Aydin at the convention, Melissa sent him a 2,000-word text, per Cohen.

He also cited Jackie Goldschneider as having the best reaction a “friend” demotion in Housewives history and ignored an email from Danielle Staub after she wanted to reconnect.

Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo

‘RHONY’

Cohen declared the RHONY women the “leakest” Housewives cast and admitted they debated when to tell stars Ramona Singer, Luann de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan and more about splitting the series into two shows — a reboot and a legacy show — in October 2022 because they didn’t want the news leaked in the press. They settled on informing the OGs after the Variety story was published. After the news was out there, Cohen texted Bethenny Frankel and she responded, “Hit me with your best shot” regarding joining the legacy show if the salary was right.

While Cohen and Frankel had their own back and forth in the media about the new show, they made amends. (Peacock announced in May 2023 that season 5 of Ultimate Girls Trip would feature RHONY alums, seemingly replacing the idea of the legacy show.) While casting season 14 of RHONY, Cohen revealed Wendy Williams called him repeatedly trying to pitch herself.

Cohen heard from RHONY alums Carole Radziwill and Aviva Drescher for the first time in years. While he had a “business-like exchange” with Radziwill about a Housewives phone hack (their first since she told him to never speak to him again following her last season), Drescher told him Ben looked like he wasn’t getting enough sleep based on videos she saw via social media.

Credit: Eugene Gologursky/Bravo

‘RHOC’

Cohen documented the drama surrounding Judge’s return. While he wrote that Vicki Gunvalson initially took the news well when he informed her ahead of the announcement, Judge and the OG of the OC briefly weren’t speaking after Zarin leaked the news. Gunvalson also reached out to Cohen when he was in the delivery room with Lucy (she was unaware) to talk about Taylor Armstrong joining RHOC and got mad when Cohen spoke about how Gunvalson wasn’t vaccinated.  

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‘Summer House’

Carl Radke and Lindsay Hubbard were referenced more than once in Daddy Diaries, with Cohen admitting he regretted pushing Radke about getting a blow job from a man in the past and asking to officiate his and Hubbard’s wedding (they weren’t even engaged yet) during a WWHL appearance. In April 2022, Cohen noted that the Summer House season 6 reunion was “lackluster” and he found himself playing “Shag, Marry, Kill” to himself with the male cast.

Cohen also noted that Hubbard called him after she was accused of being “rude” to his staff.

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Bachelor Nation and MTV

It might not be Bravo, but the two Bachelor Nation references worth mentioning include Cameron’s text after the 2021-22 New Year’s Eve rant — the Bachelorette alum wrote, “I love you, man” — and details of Colton Underwood’s March 2022 WWHL appearance.

“The media actually was alerted when he said he wasn’t signing a prenup,” Cohen wrote of Underwood’s viral declaration. “His fiancé was in the [audience] and looked mortified as I fished around their lives.”

Crossing networks again, Cohen recalled The Real World’s Trishelle Cannatella DMing him via Instagram to confess “Daddy Anderson” was one of the five people on her hall pass list — even though he’s gay — and she loved seeing Cooper on Cohen’s Stories. The other four are Paul Walker, Joel McHale, Evan Peters and Ryan Phillippe.