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Who Is Andy Cohen?
Andy Cohen’s television career began with a hairbrush and an ambitious dream. Recognized as one of the most prominent personalities in television, Cohen demonstrated his aspirations from a young age, often using a hairbrush as a makeshift microphone. He is widely known as the host of Bravo TV’s late-night talk show Watch What Happens Live and Andy Cohen: Then and Now, and he has become synonymous with the Real Housewives franchise. Additionally, he hosted a revival of Love Connection. A published author, Cohen released his latest book, Superficial: More Adventures from the Andy Cohen Diaries, in 2016.
Early Life and First Interview
Born on June 2, 1968, Andy Cohen was raised in a Jewish-American family in Clayton, Missouri. The son of Lou and Evelyn Cohen, he has an older sister, Emily Rosenfeld (née Cohen). In interviews, including insights shared in his 2012 memoir Most Talkative, Cohen reflects on his childhood fascination with television and celebrity culture. A particular influence was the soap opera All My Children, which he followed diligently during his upbringing in Clayton. His passion for the show ultimately led him to conduct his first celebrity interview with the iconic Susan Lucci, whom he persuaded to meet him in New York in December 1987 while he was a journalism student at Boston University.
Early Career at CBS
Cohen graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism. His career in media began early, as he had secured internships at local radio and television stations in St. Louis while still in high school. After graduating in 1990, he joined CBS News in New York as a news clerk assigned to the morning show CBS This Morning. Over the next decade, he advanced to the role of producer for the show, as well as for the prime-time news magazine 48 Hours. In 2000, Cohen transitioned to a position in program development at Trio, a cable network under the NBCUniversal umbrella. By 2004, he had moved to Bravo, also owned by NBCUniversal, where he served as Vice President of Original Programming. He maintained this management role at Bravo until 2014, despite his burgeoning career as an on-camera personality.
The Mastermind Behind Bravo’s ‘Real Housewives’
Andy Cohen is perhaps best known for his association with the Real Housewives series on Bravo. He hosts the reunion shows at the conclusion of each season, where he interviews the cast and encourages them to reflect on key moments of conflict from the episodes. Cohen played a pivotal role in developing the Real Housewives franchise, starting with The Real Housewives of Orange County in 2006 while he was a programming and development executive at Bravo. During his ten years in this capacity, Cohen was instrumental in shaping reality television on the network, overseeing popular shows such as Project Runway, Top Chef, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, The Millionaire Matchmaker, and Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, among others. In November 2017, his contract with NBCUniversal was renewed through 2020.
Cohen is notably unique in the television industry for successfully transitioning from a career in program management and production to becoming a television star in his own right.
The First Openly Gay Host on Late-Night Television
With the launch of Watch What Happens Live, Andy Cohen made history as the first openly gay man to host a late-night television show. He came out during his college years at Boston University, where he studied from 1986 to 1990.
Reflecting on his coming out experience, Cohen described it as one of the most daunting moments of his life. In a 2012 interview with Joy Behar, he recounted how he inadvertently left a letter to a friend in London, revealing his sexuality, which his mother discovered. “She came and said, ‘I think you have something to tell me,’” Cohen recalled. When he hesitated, she insisted he articulate it. “So I said it. I’m crying, crying, and about an hour later she said, ‘You know I would have hated your wife anyway.’”
Expanding His Media Footprint
Beyond his work with Bravo, Cohen has significantly broadened his media presence. He hosts a channel on Sirius XM radio, Radio Andy, and established his own book imprint, Andy Cohen Books, in collaboration with Henry Holt & Co.
Authoring His Story
Cohen is the author of three books that delve into his experiences as a celebrity interviewer and pop culture figure. These works include Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture (2012), The Andy Cohen Diaries: A Deep Look At a Shallow Year (2014), and Superficial: More Adventures from the Andy Cohen Diaries (2016).
He has expressed that his fast-paced life often leaves him struggling to keep track of his experiences, which motivated him to begin journaling in 2014—an idea inspired by Oprah Winfrey. This habit later evolved into the books The Andy Cohen Diaries and Superficial. In the introduction to Superficial, he wrote, “I sometimes think this can’t be my life. And maybe that’s part of the reason I write everything down—it’s too good to forget.”
Live Appearances with Anderson Cooper
Cohen tours the nation alongside his friend and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper in their traveling show AC2: An Intimate Evening with Anderson Cooper & Andy Cohen. The duo engages in discussions on a variety of topics before live audiences and has also co-hosted CNN’s annual New Year’s Eve coverage since the 2017-2018 special.
Personal Life
In 2015, Cohen began dating Clifton Dassuncao, a graduate of both MIT and Harvard, who is 20 years his junior. He affectionately referred to Dassuncao as the “Brazilian Andy Samberg” in Superficial. However, the couple announced their breakup in March 2018.
In February 2019, Cohen welcomed a baby boy, Benjamin Allen, via surrogate. He faced health challenges in March 2020, revealing that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.