\n<\/p>\n
Two miniature horses, Aidan and Pearl, stood on the terrace of a tiny TV studio in SoHo earlier this month on a sweltering evening, one more equine guest than the producers of \u201cWatch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen\u201d anticipated. They were part of a bit for taping the late-night talk show\u2019s 15th anniversary special and, apparently, booking a horse requires also booking it an emotional support horse.<\/p>\n
Andy Cohen, the show\u2019s host and creator, brought his two children Ben, 5, and Lucy, 2, to meet the mini horses as producers whispered questions about the surplus. He soon headed back inside to provide emotional support of a different kind for the show\u2019s humans. Gliding effortlessly between posing for photos with guests, including Sonja Morgan, a mainstay of \u201cThe Real Housewives of New York\u201d who arrived in a diamond-studded (she said they\u2019re fake) tiara, Cohen listened to instructions from his producers while also recording behind-the-scenes footage for social media.<\/p>\n
It was a lot of wrangling, even for Cohen \u2014 the core moderator and pot-stirrer of \u201cW.W.H.L.,\u201d the recap show that somehow manages to lure A-list celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Jennifer Lawrence to marvel at the antics of the stars in Bravo\u2019s ever-expanding reality universe. Five nights a week, viewers can see Oscar-winners re-enact scenes<\/a> from \u201cReal Housewives of Salt Lake City\u201d; so-called Bravo-lebrities dish about just-aired dirty laundry; or Cohen and Hillary Clinton drink from a shotski<\/a>, a ski with shot glasses glued to it that allows multiple people to simultaneously knock one back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The show, and the reality TV universe it obsesses over, delight in outrageous behavior that is under scrutiny as Bravo currently faces multiple lawsuits<\/a>. Former cast members from several series accused the network and producers of racial discrimination, running an alcohol-fueled workplace and failing to respond properly to reports of harassment and assault. After an internal investigation, the network said it cleared Cohen<\/a> of claims made against him by two former Housewives, including those detailed in a lawsuit from a former cast member who said the show\u2019s producers had encouraged her to relapse to boost ratings. Cohen also apologized<\/a> for sending one former cast member a video message that she said constituted sexual harassment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Many of the regular bits on \u201cW.W.H.L.\u201d are related to alcohol: Each episode begins with Cohen revealing a word of the night for viewers to drink to every time it\u2019s uttered; each ends with him encouraging the audience to drink responsibly. Regardless, Cohen and his team maintained that drinking on set was optional and not essential to the show.<\/p>\n \u201cFun is the culture at \u2018W.W.H.L.,\u2019\u201d Cohen said. \u201cSome guests choose to have a cocktail, others don\u2019t \u2014 there\u2019s absolutely no pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n Beginning in 2009 as a web series shot in a studio without air conditioning, \u201cWatch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen\u201d has grown into cable TV\u2019s highest-rated late-night talk show, one that thrusts Bravo\u2019s reality TV shows into the forefront of pop culture. We spoke with Cohen and the show\u2019s producers and went behind the scenes to learn how.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n As Bravo\u2019s vice president of original programming back in 2004, Cohen regularly emailed what he called \u201cdishy reports\u201d to his bosses about the shows they were producing. He turned those into a blog, and as the posts became popular, Cohen began making guest appearances on network morning shows as a television pundit.<\/p>\n In 2009, Michael Davies, a Bravo producer, saw Cohen host a reunion show for \u201cFlipping Out\u201d and offered him a studio and a tiny budget to start a show rehashing \u201cTop Chef\u201d and \u201cProject Runway\u201d at midnight, after those series aired new episodes.<\/p>\n The idea was that \u201cW.W.H.L.\u201d would mimic the conversations happening in the heyday of Twitter, the platform now known as X, with fans sharing their opinions on shows they\u2019d just watched.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really centered around Andy\u2019s sensibilities and point of view since he knew the shows inside and out and knew what fans wanted to hear more about,\u201d said Deirdre Connolly, the executive producer of \u201cW.W.H.L.\u201d since it began.<\/p>\n As audience members and Bravo-lebrities filed into the SoHo studio for the anniversary taping, Cohen exercised the same attention to the show\u2019s details. He asked producers for their thoughts on the best way to gently ask \u201cReal Housewives of Atlanta\u201d returnee Porsha Williams about her relationship status. (She filed for divorce as the current season began filming and it is still in production.) When producers alerted him that Phaedra Parks had brought the \u201cLove Island\u201d star Ekin-Su Culculoglu as her plus-one, Cohen double-checked the exact phrasing of Parks\u2019s infamous \u201cTraitors\u201d tagline, \u201cOh lord, sweet baby Jesus, not Ekin-Su,\u201d so that he could use it on air.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Almost every episode of \u201cW.W.H.L.\u201d guarantees unpredictability \u2014 whether through Cohen\u2019s probing questions or games designed to put guests on the hot seat.<\/p>\n Cohen pointed to a 2011 episode<\/a> that became a favorite for him and viewers, though he initially feared that the show had veered off the rails.<\/p>\n When the actresses Regina King and Jack\u00e9e Harry, castmates on the 1980s TV comedy \u201c227\u201d long before King became a film star, arrived to the \u201cW.W.H.L.\u201d studio, it was obvious they had been drinking. Cohen initially panicked.<\/p>\n \u201cI just remember during the first commercial break, in my mind, I felt like I didn\u2019t have control over the show,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cDeirdre said to me in my ear, \u2018This is amazing \u2014 we\u2019re trending number one worldwide on Twitter.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The bawdy and mildly chaotic episode taught Cohen a lesson: \u201cAlways lean into whatever is happening, even if it appears a little nasty or especially if it appears a little messy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Since then, Cohen has left space for messiness to run rampant \u2014 clips online show how unguarded guests can be, with Whoopi Goldberg teaching Cohen how to roll a joint<\/a> and Shaquille O\u2019Neal coyly responding to the host\u2019s question about a part of his, err, anatomy<\/a>.<\/p>\n During the filming of the anniversary episode earlier this month, Morgan (of \u201cThe Real Housewives of New York\u201d), the tiara glittering atop her head, became the primary source of messiness. At one point, she walked off the set during a commercial break, angry about \u2026something. Producers tried to coax her back onto the soundstage while Jerry O\u2019Connell, another guest, bet the audience that she wouldn\u2019t return. He lost \u2014 but it wasn\u2019t until Cohen himself went to talk to Morgan that she agreed to come back.<\/p>\n When filming resumed moments later, as Cohen tried to introduce a video montage, Morgan interrupted, \u201cI think Andy should be mayor.\u201d Cohen shushed her and during the next commercial break, staffers put a glass of water next to Morgan\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n This messiness helps fuel the show\u2019s popularity and relevance outside the network, with Cohen steering conversations that simply wouldn\u2019t fly on other talk shows.<\/p>\n \u201cHis unique ability is to go there \u2014 one of his trademarks is asking provocative questions,\u201d said Nick Rizzo, a supervising producer on the show. \u201cAnd what I think he doesn\u2019t get enough credit for is he does an incredible job of also listening to guests and then asking the follow-ups and getting wild confessions as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n John Oliver, the talk show host, political pundit and recurring \u201cW.W.H.L.\u201d guest fueled a week\u2019s worth of internet headlines with an appearance in March. After weighing in on the lengthy divorce arc of two \u201cThe Real Housewives of Miami\u201d cast members, Cohen asked if Oliver had had enough of Kate Middleton rumors, amid speculation about her absence from public appearances<\/a>. Oliver joked that he believed she was dead, and Variety, Business Insider, Vulture, Vanity Fair and Page Six all wrote about his jesting statement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The show reached a new stratosphere when A-list celebrities started making their way into the clubhouse. Winfrey\u2019s 2013 visit, Cohen said, helped validate the show.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that she came to our little clubhouse in SoHo and she deemed us important enough, was really, you know, just an incredible moment, personally and professionally,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Since then, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez and 50 Cent have all stopped by Cohen\u2019s clubhouse as part of press tours. But they do so with the understanding that Bravo shows and their stars are the central conversation.<\/p>\n In one recurring segment, \u201cClubhouse Playhouse,\u201d mainstream stars re-enact scenes from Bravo shows, allowing those moments to reach new viewers via shareable clips. In one of the most popular videos, \u201cMad Men\u201d stars Jon Hamm and John Slattery took on a scene<\/a> from Season 10 of \u201cVanderpump Rules\u201d when cast member James Kennedy memorably called Tom Sandoval \u201ca worm with a mustache,\u201d with Hamm using a British accent.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say once a year I email Deirdre and the team, and say, \u2018Can you please remind everybody that we can do anything on this show?\u2019\u201d Cohen said. \u201cAnd no idea is dumb enough and that we have always pushed the envelope and we need to continue doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIt Started With Andy\u2019s Emails<\/h2>\n
Leaning Into the Messiness<\/h2>\n
Interviews Create Headlines<\/h2>\n
A-Listers Fawn Over Bravo-lebrities<\/h2>\n