Andy Cohen took a minute to quiet a few rumors within the Real Housewives universe — starting with Kelly Bensimon’s viral Real Housewives of New York City casting idea.
“Well, she did send me a list,” Cohen, 56, revealed during the Monday, February 24, episode of SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live.
When asked who was on her list of who he could cast in a new season of the Bravo hit, Cohen got tongue-tied. “Well, I mean, a couple of them were …” he told cohost John Hill.
Hill chimed in, wondering, “Was she on that list?” Cohen confirmed, “Oh, yeah. She’s on the list. It was, I think, being kind of anchored by her.”
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Cohen noted that he does like Bensimon — who starred on RHONY from 2009 to 2011 and later made appearances in 2014 and 2015— but wouldn’t divulge who she wanted to join her on the proposed upgraded show. (Bensimon, 56, also appeared on season 4 of The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls’ Trip.)
“Funnily enough, she does email me more than you might expect,” Cohen told his listeners, admitting, “I can’t find this email babe, but she pitched [me a list].”
The Bravo producer added that one of the people on Bensimon’s dream casting lineup is “someone that I’ve known and someone you know who is not going to do it.”
“So, I got the email. That’s all I’ll say,” he confessed.
Cohen and the rest of the RHONY team have gotten some heat lately after season 15’s low ratings and controversial story lines. Bravo even put out a casting call for RHONY in January before the season reunion. (At the January reunion, the cast seemingly moved on from Brynn Whitfield’s claim that she told Ubah Hassan about her sexual assault and Hassan ignored it. Whitefield’s alleged stretching of the truth caused a rift among the whole group.)
In response, Bensimon told Page Six on Sunday, February 23, that she would happily return to the franchise and help bring it back to life.
“Everybody says I should be back on Housewives,” Bensimon said. “And I’m happy to do it with — not to be mean, but, like, not this cast. I sent a whole list to Andy. I was like: Here’s the mothership.”
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She didn’t name names but teased that her list included women who were all “very New York,” explaining, “My biggest criticism — and it’s been the same thing throughout since I was on — is that the ultimate character on the show is New York and we’re not seeing New York.”
RHONY’s cast and future isn’t the only franchise that has fans talking. The Real Housewives of New Jersey stars are currently in limbo as to whether or not they’ll be back for a season 15.
Cohen weighed in on the rumors that Teresa Giudice, Dolores Catania and Melissa Gorga were the only current Housewives coming back.
“Bravo has said nothing. No one has any information. There is no information,” Cohen said during Monday’s SiriusXM episode of Andy Cohen Live. “I cannot stress this enough. Y’all are not going to hear anything for a while.”
He also shut down the rumors about Giudice, 52, getting her own spinoff, saying only when fans read a story that says “Bravo has announced” or “Andy said on his radio [show]” will they be factual.
Cohen’s statements back up Us Weekly’s previous report that the RHONJ stars are awaiting a decision on casting.
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“All of them have been in contact with production, but not with any news,” a source exclusively told Us earlier this month. “There’s still an open line of communication but no news on who is coming back or who is not coming back.”
Season 14 of the series starred Guidice, Gorga, 45, Catania, 54, Jennifer Aydin, Margaret Josephs, Rachel Fuda and Danielle Cabrael. Jackie Goldschneider and Jennifer Fessler also made appearances as “friends.”
The insider noted that although there’s no news about what’s next for RHONJ, “Production wants the show to come back.”
A spokesperson for Bravo told Us in a statement that “no decisions have been made around casting for RHONJ.”
