Andy Cohen's Dream Guest: Madonna

L'invitée de rêve de Andy Cohen: Madonna.

A Night Out with Andy Cohen
Dec 9, 2010 11:12 AM ET
by Ingela Ratledge

If Bravo's master of ceremonies, Andy Cohen, were a cocktail, the recipe would go something like this: Mix one part executive (he's the senior VP of original programming and development) with one part on-air talent (since last July, he's hosted Watch What Happens Live, a talk show/post-party hybrid that's airing four episodes this week). Add a generous splash of superfan — Cohen is passionate about the world of so-called "Bravolebrities" to the point of zealotry — shake, and voilà...a bracing, thoroughly meta elixir that simultaneously controls your air waves while appearing on them. TV Guide Magazine sat down with Cohen at NYC watering hole Bedlam for a couple rounds of Maker's Mark-and-ginger-ales to find out what makes him tick.

TV Guide Magazine: Most suits don't get their own spotlight — how'd that happen?
Cohen: I always wanted to be an anchorman, but after college I wound up working behind the scenes at CBS News for 10 years. [Among other gigs, he was The Early Show's first talent booker.] Eventually I went to Bravo, where the on-air stuff just started very organically by me having a blog and doing interviews. When my executive producer asked if I would be interested in doing an on-air show, I said, "Absolutely."

TV Guide Magazine: Did hosting come naturally?
Cohen: The night that WWHL premiered, I wasn't nervous in the least. I felt like it was something I should be doing. And it feels like home in that clubhouse — probably because it's modeled after the den in my apartment. It's like I'm doing "Wayne's World."

TV Guide Magazine: Has the live format ever thrown you for a loop?
Cohen: Jerry Seinfeld razzed me mercilessly about The Real Housewives. It put me on the defensive. First I was laughing, then I started giving him crap back. So much TV is overly polished. I like that we're in this teeny set with 15 people in the audience and anything can happen — Naomi Campbell or Anderson Cooper can call in.

TV Guide Magazine: A lot of the guests you book — Sarah Jessica Parker, Kelly Ripa — are friends. How does that work?
Cohen: I don't ever want to put them in an uncomfortable position, and I always want them to suggest it.

TV Guide Magazine: When the taping is over, do you hit the town?
Cohen: It really depends on the person. If it's Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos — Neil Patrick Harris came by that night, too — then I'll say, "Let's all go to the Boom Boom Room."

TV Guide Magazine: Who would be your dream guest?
Cohen: Madonna. Look, I'm a big gay guy.

TV Guide Magazine: Wait...what?
Cohen: I know, isn't that a shock? I love divas. Madonna, Mariah, Beyoncé, Britney.

TV Guide Magazine: You were Madonna's date to the premiere of A Single Man. How was that?
Cohen: Definitely a bucket list moment. I don't want to say too much about it because then I'll never get asked again.

TV Guide Magazine: It's hard to believe now, but Bravo used to be kind of a programming wasteland. What are your early memories of it?
Cohen: I don't have any. When I was working at Trio, I was pitched Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and I knew, whoever gets this, this is a game changer. When I started at Bravo in 2005, it was a hit, and Season 1 of Project Runway was in postproduction.

TV Guide Magazine: The Housewives reunion shows have become a phenomenon — you even did a parody on SNL. What's it like being in the lion's den?
Cohen: I definitely have to take a big breath before I ask some of those questions. They're all eight-hour tapings and I hammer, hammer, hammer.

TV Guide Magazine: Bravo has been called a gay network.
Cohen: The gay stars we have are not on because they're gay — they're on for something else and they just happen to be gay. I think that's the best way to help spread acceptance, because viewers feel like they're friends. I hope there's a kid on a playground who can turn on Bravo and see a great chef or designer and say, "Someday I'm going to be able to be who I am."

TV Guide Magazine: Did you have a hard time growing up?
Cohen: There was a part of myself that I was burying because I thought it wouldn't be accepted. I came out when I was in college.

TV Guide Magazine: With your schedule, do you have time to date these days?
Cohen: You make time. I am single and on the lookout. I have a date later tonight!

TV Guide Magazine: So what's left on your bucket list?
Cohen: I've had Tina Fey on the show. I got to throw out the first pitch at the St. Louis Cardinals game this year — that's my hometown. I was on Saturday Night Live. Right now, I'm swimming in the bucket.

Source: TVGuide.

 Full interview here: Andy Cohen interview

Andy Cohen