“I love the fact that he’s become successful by being exactly the person he always was and was meant to be.” 

— Anderson Cooper, CNN anchor

By Jon Lafayette

On her first day running the cable network Trio for Vivendi Universal Entertainment in 2002, Lauren Zalaznick was introduced to her new programming head, Andrew Cohen. “When I text him, it still comes up Andrew Cohen, even though I’ve called him ‘Andy’ since day two,” Zalaznick said.
Now Andy Cohen is a force in reality TV and a celebrity himself as host of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live. But initially, Zalaznick wasn’t impressed with Cohen’s resume, which listed his work experience as a segment producer at CBS News. As Trio moved into offices at 45 Rockefeller Center, the first thing Cohen said was, “Whoever you put me next to, just remind them I have a really loud voice and I can’t make it any softer.”

Passionate Programmer

Zalaznick discovered that Cohen worked as hard as she did and understood the “high-low” nature of Bravo’s signature programming, which came under her remit in 2004 after NBC acquired Universal. Cohen in 2006 shepherded the first season of The Real Housewives of Orange County, the foundation of a successful, sprawling franchise.
“He says very difficult things to very difficult people in a completely nonconfrontational way,” Zalaznick said. “If you’re being managed by Andy, there is no talking around stuff. It’s just, ‘Here’s what needed to happen. Here’s what happened. Here’s why that didn't work.’”
After streaming a live Real Housewives of New Jersey watch party on AOL, Bravo decided to do aftershows for its original programming on a shoestring budget. Cohen, the programming exec, was the natural choice to host. “That’s how Andy got on the air,” Zalaznick recalled. Cohen “is very consistent,” Zalaznick said. “Look at his Instagram stories. He juxtaposes walking his kids to school with posts about gay pride and with who’s on Watch What Happens Live, and you’re like, ‘Yeah that’s Andy.’”
When Cohen and CNN’s Anderson Cooper were starting out in the news business, mutual friends tried to set them up. However, Cooper said that within 30 seconds, he knew he would never date Cohen because Cohen asked about Cooper’s famous mom, Gloria Vanderbilt. Nevertheless, they hung out with the same crowd and became best friends.
“He’s the exact same person I knew back then,” Cooper recalled. “I’ve read the letters from summer camp he sent his mom. They are the gayest, most pop culture-centered letters you’ve ever heard. He’s telling his mom to save the People magazine that has Cher on the cover.” Both grew up loving television. Cooper preferred news, while Cohen watched soap operas. They eventually worked together on CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live telecasts. “I hadn’t realized what a good television producer he is,” Cooper said.
“I love the fact that he’s become successful by being exactly the person he always was and was meant to be,” Cooper added.
Growing up, “in my fantasy, I wanted to be myself on television,” Cohen said. He started in journalism. “I had no idea that I would organically wind up exactly in a role that was perfect for me.”

“If you’re being managed by Andy, there is no talking around stuff. It’s just, ‘Here’s what needed to happen. Here’s what happened. Here's why that didn't work.”

— Lauren Zalaznick, former head of Bravo 

On-Screen Shift

When Bravo wanted its late-night show to air five nights a week, Cohen gave up his post as head of current programming at the network, said Frances Berwick, chairman, Bravo & Peacock Unscripted, at NBCUniversal. In addition to hosting, he’s executive producer of WWHL, as well as the Real Housewives franchise.
Cohen hosts events like fan convention BravoCon and has become the face of the network, embodying what Berwick called “the Bravo wink.” He also nurtures relationships with Bravo execs and talent.
“He’s a single dad with two kids, and he has a daily talk show, and he's an executive producer, and, by the way, he’s working on books and some scripted projects,” Berwick said. “But he really makes time for his friends and the talent in his life and in his work.” Heather Dubrow, an actress and one of the Real Housewives of Orange County, said she was starstruck the first time she met Cohen, but like others in the cast, she soon came to think of him as their “zaddy.”
“He’s like really a parent to all of us,” Dubrow said. “He finds that thing that makes you unique, your superpower.”
Cohen said he wants to be known for bringing a lot of good entertainment and good times to people who watch him and the shows he’s been involved in. Meeting fans at events like BravoCon is humbling, he said. “I'm gratified by the level of fandom that people have for Bravo and me,” he said. “I don't know a brand on television that commands this level of fandom.”
He said he’s especially proud of Watch What Happens Live. “It’s the greatest extension of me and the fact that we’ve been able to keep it alive for 17 years has just been an incredible gift,” Cohen said.