Andy Cohen’s Friendships With Former Housewives: Who Is He Still on Good Terms With?

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Andy Cohen’s Friendships With Former Housewives: Who Is He Still on Good Terms With?

A different kind of dynamic. Andy Cohen has been candid about his complicated relationships with the Real Housewives — especially after they exited their respective franchise — over the years. Cohen became the Vice President of Original Programming at Bravo in 2004. Two years later, he served as an executive producer for Real Housewives of Orange County, which premiered in 2006. While Cohen’s role at the network has changed over the years, he continued to produce every Housewives franchise, including The Real Housewives of New York City, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, The Real Housewives of New Jersey, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, The Real Housewives of Miami, The Real Housewives of D.C., The Real Housewives of Potomac, The Real Housewives of Dallas and The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. He also hosts the heated reunion specials every year. While RHODC didn’t last, there have been more than 100 full-time Real Housewives over the years. In 2018, Cohen shed some light on how production decides it’s time for a Housewife to walk away from their respective city. [jwplayer Vs8yq03f-zhNYySv2] “It’s usually a conversation,” the Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen host said at the Tribeca TV Festival in 2018. “At the end of every season, we talk to the women about what they have coming up and whether they want to come back. What they see for the future. Then we also look at the show and say, ‘How do we want to change the show?’ I think part of the reason the entire franchise is successful is it’s an ensemble show. It’s all about what’s best for the group. What’s best for the ensemble? How’s it going to be different? Do we want to continue this conversation? Do we want to pivot into a new conversation?” While his relationships with the women are always complex, once a Real Housewife confirms their exit, things can get even dicer for Cohen. "I very much believe in boundaries. And sometimes I keep boundaries up with people who have no boundaries. These are people who invite cameras into their homes,” he told Paper magazine of his relationship with various Housewives in 2019. "It's a complicated relationship … I'm a boss, I'm a friend … I'm an adversary, I'm a button pusher. I've become legitimately friends with many of them. I care about them. So it's nuanced. And sometimes it's great and sometimes it's not great. It's an emotional relationship." Scroll through for updates on Cohen’s status with some popular former Housewives:

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Kelly Dodd

After making a series of controversial comments about COVID-19, Cohen confronted Dodd at the RHOC season 15 reunion. Following their heated exchange (and backlash from fans), her contract wasn’t renewed for season 16. While the first season in five years without Dodd was airing, she slammed the ratings.

“Wait, wasn’t I the ratings problem ? Wasn’t there a boycott ??” she tweeted in December 2021. “We got over a million viewers 14 out of 16 weeks last season despite HUGE competition from election coverage on the news !!! This year ? #RHOC16 under a million 3x in 4 weeks ! Hey @Andy How’s that reboot going ???”

Cohen replied: “Good morning! Reboot going great. Feels like a return to form for #RHOC. Look at the delayed numbers, not live. That’s what’s measured.”

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NeNe Leakes

While Cohen has said nothing but nice things about the RHOA OG over the years, Leakes has slammed the host and the network multiple times. She turned on Cohen in September 2020 after he had her former bestie Wendy Williams on WWHL the same week she announced her departure from the series.

“She does Andy Cohen’s show and here she sits speaking negatively of my exit and bringing my family into the equation. Now that’s what you’re not gonna do. What you’re not going to do is speaking negative of my family. My family never signed up to be a part of anything doing television. They don’t have to be colorful. I am the person that has to be colorful or need to be colorful, OK?” Leakes said in a YouTube video titled “Stop using me for click bait!”

More than one year after the exit drama, Leakes expressed a desire to return to RHOA. Cohen subsequently referred to their relationship as “complicated” during his SiriusXM show.

“What I don’t want to do is get into a public thing with her. I think she would probably prefer that I keep her name out of my mouth and that is what I’m going to honor,” he said on Andy Cohen Live in November 2021.

In 2022, Leakes filed (and later dropped) a racial discrimination lawsuit against Cohen, NBCUniversal, Bravo and production companies True Entertainment and Truly Original.

“What a sad end to a relationship with someone I adored and put on a pedestal for years,” he wrote his May 2023 book, Daddy Diaries.

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Bethenny Frankel

Cohen has referred to Frankel’s second stint on RHONY (she appeared on seasons 1-3 and 7-11) as a gift for him and the fans. He also has reunited with the RHONY OG several times since her 2019 exit.

“This #RHONY Reunion was short on drama, but lots of laughs,” he captioned a photo with Frankel in The Hamptons in July 2020.

The Skinnygirl mogul has also credited Cohen for encouraging her to launch her podcast, which he appeared on in September 2020.

After Cohen accused Frankel of “trashing the Housewives publicly for the last three years” when she launched her “ReWives” podcast in 2022, the twosome made up on WWHL in December 2022.

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Vicki Gunvalson

After the OG of the OC wasn’t offered a full-time role for season 15 of RHOC, she accused Cohen of not having her back at the season 14 reunion. He mended the rift between them by sending Gunvalson followers ahead of the October 2020 premiere.

“Thank you @bravoandy for the incredible flower arrangement,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “After 14 incredible (& some not so incredible) years on @bravotv, it’s nice to be acknowledged on the launch of RHOC tonight. #thankyou #gonebutnotforgotten.”

Gunvalson included a photo of Cohen’s card, which read, “There wouldn’t be an OC without Vicki G. Love, Andy.”

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Carole Radzwill

Cohen’s relationship with Radzwill has been different from the start as the pair used to run in the same social circle before she joined the cast of RHONY season 5.

“I used to always be invited to his Christmas party for 10 years because we had the same group of friends. And then when I starred in Housewives, I got disinvited,” Radzwill told Us in 2018.

The former journalist made headlines that year when she told Cohen he “was so full of s—t” at the season 10 reunion, which ended up being her last.  

“I think she’s angry toward the show and me and she felt like I was up Bethenny’s ass,” Cohen said in 2020 of their heated moment. “I don’t think she said we were overly close. We were in each other’s circle for years. We didn’t talk on the phone. We didn’t email but I think we had genuine [care] for each other.”

Radzwill and Cohen’s feud was reignited following the release of Not All Diamonds and Rosé in October 2021. In the book, which the host’s imprint published, they recalled their falling out over how she handled her exit from RHONY.

“Carole’s post basically implied that she was leaving a really toxic situation [and] It really rubbed me the wrong way because I really felt like I had changed her life,” Cohen said. “She is not the person I used to know.”

Radzwill slammed the quotes via Twitter: “Just another man telling a woman she ought to be more grateful. Housewives changed Andy Cohen’s life, not mine. And Bravo built a 100million dollar franchise on the backs of women. Let’s not get it twisted. 💯💪🏼.”

In Daddy Diaries, Cohen noted his first interaction with Radziwill in years was a “business-like exchange” to explain a Housewives hacking issue in 2022.

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Lisa Vanderpump

While Cohen expressed his disappointment when Vanderpump skipped the season 9 RHOBH reunion in 2019, he has expressed his gratitude for her nine years on the series. The twosome are seemingly on good terms as Cohen paid tribute to her late dog Giggy in December 2020. However, several months earlier, Vanderpump did agree with a social media user who alleged the host “always” tries to get his WWHL guests to “throw shade” at her.

"Well thank you kind sir and I agree,” she replied to the July 2020 tweet.

Following her RHOBH exit, Cohen and Vanderpump continued to work together on Vanderpump Rules.

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Brandi Glanville

It wasn’t always love between Cohen and Glanville at RHOBH reunions, but as of 2020, they are in a good place with the producer appearing on her “Unfiltered” podcast. Things got slightly awkward during the episode as Glanville enlisted her teenage son to beg Cohen to give his mom a spot back on RHOBH, but he handled it like the pro he is by keeping his answers vague.

Glanville told Us at BravoCon in October 2022 that she texts Cohen “every day.”

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Dorinda Medley

While there were reports that Medley was fired over her remark about using a turkey baster to get pregnant at the RHONY season 12 reunion in 2020, Cohen said that wasn’t the case.

“While I didn’t like that comment, that’s not true,” he said on Radio Andy at the time, making it clear that the door was open for Medley to return in the future. “Sometimes taking a pause is a good thing and I am really hopeful that this is indeed a pause and that she would rejoin the show at some point. … I think a pause is a good thing and she will come back renewed and refreshed.”

Medley returned to WWHL in August 2021 to promote her book and hosted season 2 of Peacock’s The Ultimate Girls Trip at her Berkshires home.

In May 2023, news broke that Medley — who has continued a positive relationship with Cohen — will be part of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy.

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Danielle Staub

Staub, who originally appeared on the first two seasons of RHONJ, declared that she was done with Bravo in January 2020 after returning for two seasons in a “friend” role. She later slammed Cohen, but he never publicly responded.

“Andy kept me In the dark long enough! He has taken whats mine and given it to others! Now that you are a parent I’d hoped you would see some of the pain you caused my family, even when I left the show to protect my young children, you mocked me repeatedly defaming me and yet I still continued to give you over a decade to do right by me and mine!” she wrote in August 2020 via Instagram. “I’ve even gone as far as to ask you to be kinder and more gentle with me but it fell on deaf ears. No more waiting or asking, I have no hate no more respect I don’t honor you and I won’t defend you. But I will advise: ‘Be careful whose toes you step on today because they may be attached to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow.'”

Cohen revealed in Daddy Diaries that he ignored an email from Staub after she tried to reach out after trashing him on a podcast.