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Andy Cohen is going behind the scenes with The Real Housewives. The Bravo maestro discussed the reality TV franchise in a new profile for The Hollywood Reporter, admitting that he wasn’t initially keen on Lisa Rinna joining the show’s Beverly Hills iteration.
“I actually have mixed feelings about having stars on the show,” he revealed. “When Lisa Rinna was trying out for season one of Beverly Hills, I was very much against the idea. Like, she’s already a celebrity!”
Rinna eventually joined the cast of RHOBH in Season 5 and Cohen stood corrected. “But then she came, and it made perfect sense,” he added.
Along with fellow newbie at the time, Eileen Davidson, Rinna was cast in The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2014. She remained on the show for eight seasons, providing memorable moments including that Amsterdam fight, before departing the franchise in 2023 ahead of Season 13.
“This is the longest job I have held in my 35-year career and I am grateful to everyone at Bravo and all those involved in the series,” Rinna said in a statement. “It has been a fun eight-year run and I am excited for what is to come!”
While Cohen eventually came around to Rinna’s presence on the show, she’s not interested in a RHOBH comeback anytime soon. “No. Never. No I wouldn’t,” she said on The Jennifer Hudson Show when asked if she’d return. “I am grateful for that show. I am the person I am today because of it, but I’ll never go back.”
Speaking on his SiriusXM radio show in April, Cohen had nothing but praise for the former Housewives star, commenting on her recent pivot into the fashion world. “I did not have it on my bingo card that Lisa Rinna would become, not only a model, but she is walking in couture campaigns,” he said. “I am really impressed. I’ve got to give it up to her.”
Andy’s “Superstar” Housewives
In his recent The Hollywood Reporter interview, Cohen also credited The Real Housewives franchise for celebrating “strong women” of all ages.
“I think the women on our shows are superstars,” he said. “I think it’s really a feminist show because it can be about women finding their voice or finding their power or discovering their sexuality.”
The long running reality franchise began airing in 2006 with The Real Housewives of Orange County, which spawned nine other U.S. based Housewives shows, including New York, Atlanta, and Beverly Hills.
