There are certain people who belong in certain places. It just feels right to see them there. Andy Cohen belongs in the center of a group of women wearing outrageous outfits in a highly dramatic, often ridiculous situation.
Last Friday night, as the grand finale to the busy first day of BravoCon in Las Vegas, it felt right to see the network figurehead on stage at the Paris Theater in a tuxedo, flanked on either side by a dozen dancers sporting classic showgirl costumes: feather plumes rising from their heads to the rafters as they shimmied around the stage.
The women we’re used to seeing surround Cohen—wearing an array of sequined ball gowns and screaming while pointing fingers instead of doing a kickline—occupied the first rows of the sold-out audience in front of him. Uniformly, they found it a riot to see their boss singing, dancing, and roasting them at the first-ever taping of “The Bravos,” the network’s version of an Emmys-like award show that Cohen crooned, hoofed, and joked through like he was Hugh Jackman or Neil Patrick Harris.
It was a little razzle-dazzle to celebrate the first day of the massive fan convention.
More than 150 Bravo celebrities traveled to Vegas for the three-day affair: a marathon schedule of live panels, Q&As, photo ops, and brand peddling at the pop-up farmers’ market at the center of it all. BravoCon is a place where you’re greeted each morning by a 30-foot billboard of Countess Luann de Lesseps (as all mornings should start), watch a roomful of thousands of people boo Vanderpump Rules villain Tom Sandoval in person (as all people should do), and end the night by unexpectedly crying while Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson emotionally accepted the inaugural Wifetime Achievement Award.
The silliness, the community: It all felt right. Except a nagging thing—some would say a possibly damning thing—kept showing up through the weekend, like a scattered thunderstorm.
Days before BravoCon began, Vanity Fair published an investigation that revealed details of several former Housewives’ experiences with alleged racism, as well as a toxic and exploitative work environment. Among the stars on the record were Bethenny Frankel, who has spent months drumming up momentum for what she’s dubbed a reality-TV “reckoning.” In the aftermath of the piece, which recounted specific incidents involving Real Housewives of New York veteran Ramona Singer, Singer was disinvited from BravoCon and fired from her job at a real-estate firm.
Especially on the first day of BravoCon, it felt like elephants were lurking in a Vegas casino filled with Bravoholics. Were the vibes weird? Was the controversy being swept under the rug?
After being directly asked by a fan about all those headlines in his BravoCon-opening “Ask Andy” panel, Cohen came to the press room, admirably and enthusiastically bouncing from journalist to journalist, like a Tigger who was really pulling off his salt-and-pepper hair lately. I asked him what it’s been like to be asked about the controversies so many times. “Only twice, actually!” he told me, as I gazed skeptically at the 30 other reporters in the room. (Officially, he called the Vanity Fair piece a “factually incorrect rehash of old stories.”)
He said it hasn’t been too difficult to focus on the positive aspects of BravoCon, even if people are whispering about other things. “It’s only joy here. I only feel so high from all the love. It’s what I tell the Housewives all the time: There are all these conversations happening that come at you on social media. And when you put your phone down, it’s gone. So here we are, and it’s just love.”
After approaching the two-decade mark of working on Real Housewives, he said that’s the biggest revelation he’s at each iteration of BravoCon: “I think it reinforces for me that there’s a lot of minutiae that happens on social media and in the universe that absolutely just doesn’t matter to people. I think what it reinforces is how intense the fandom is, and how happy this makes people. You can’t make that up. You can’t bottle it. That’s what I’ve learned every year. It’s like, wow, this is just about the shows.”
Over the course of the weekend, we were curious to get other Bravolebs’ opinions, too.
For context, a press room at BravoCon yields laughably little time with each interview subject, which isn’t entirely conducive for nuanced conversation about serious issues—a bit like shouting three questions at a person standing on a platform as a train whizzes by.
After talking to nearly 50 stars and gathering soundbites from their official panels, we found, largely, that the Bravolebs we spoke to were rather unperturbed by the exposés and think that changes the network has already been implementing to programming are on the right path.
Whether they were toeing the company line, high on all the love from fans, or speaking truthfully, who can be sure? But they all (well, most of them) had interesting things to say about what they consider to be different about working at Bravo now, what might be the future of the network, and how the tone of their shows have changed.
No one brought up Singer to me directly, though her former RHONY co-star made me do a spit-take when I asked who from her upcoming RHONY Legacy series has changed the most: “The one who’s not here.” And Real Housewives of Beverly Hills O.G. Kyle Richards made a hilarious, if maybe unintentional reference to Singer’s fate: “The things that some of the women said on the show, you could never say now. You’d be, you know, canceled.”
So what is the future of Bravo? Some answers were profound. Some were humorous. A few dismissive. Whether talking about the experience of being on the network at a transition point or reflecting on the biggest differences from where they started, here’s what a Who’s Who of Bravolebs had to tell me.
Brynn Whitfield, Real Housewives of New York City
What is it like being on the newest show at this transition point?
It feels really cool, and I think it’s so awesome that they’re doing it. They’re just on top of it. They started Housewives. It’s not even that [evolving] is a trend. It’s just truly being tapped into the times and evolving with the times. It just makes sense; it’s 2023, and it makes a lot of sense. I think to like post-COVID and everything, people just need to laugh more. People need to be happy. We entertain. You can laugh with us. You laugh at us. We don’t care. We’re gonna do it. That’s what Bravo should be. This isn’t the BBC.
That should be the new tagline.
It’s the truth. We’re here to entertain people and bring joy and happiness. It’s not that I think they evolved Bravo, now that I’m thinking about it. I think they just went more in and were like, this is our brand DNA and this is what we do. They just went in, I think, and just pooped us out.
Kyle Richards and AnneMarie Wiley, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
As the Bravo veteran and the Bravo newbie, how do you think it’s different being on Housewives now versus 13 years ago?
Kyle: When we started the show years ago, it’s funny because we had just come out of a recession, and we were scared to talk about money because people were struggling. Everything was different then. I mean, the things that some of the women said on the show, you could never say now. You’d be, you know, canceled. Not me! But I’ve seen some things that other people said, and I was like, oh my gosh, can you imagine that being said now, 13 years later? So it’s changed so much in that way. I’ve been here for 13 years. I’ve changed so much over these 13 years. I’ve never been someone who likes confrontation. I learned to have to be that way. But I navigate through these things a lot better now.
AnneMarie: One thing that I give it to them for is that we’re in an age now where social media is everything. And I can imagine when you started out 13 years ago, Kyle, there wasn’t that much. So it’s like you're filming this show, right? And now you’re seeing it on TV, and you’re seeing it everywhere on social media, like over and over and over and over again. So I’m sure that adds a whole new layer for them.
Kyle: Some people are chiming in on some clips they see, and they’re putting it on Instagram or Twitter. They’re getting mad at you for something that they only saw a clip of, taken out of context. So you’re already getting stressed. It’s a lot. When we started the show, there was only Twitter, and I had a Blackberry. That’s how long I've been doing this.
Margaret Josephs, Real Housewives of New Jersey
Does it feel different being on Bravo now?
To be honest, this is the most positive experience in the entire world. That’s true of this BravoCon especially, because the world has sucked so badly the last few years. There are so many bad things going on. People are so passionate about it, and the way they feel about you. They're so invested in our lives, I just finished my seventh season. Do you believe it? Two faces ago. Twenty pounds. I look totally different. Everybody knows everything about us.
How does it feel being here amid all the conversation about the exposés?
You know what? No one’s even talking about it. What I like is that no one’s bringing any negativity here. There’s no toxic fandom here, let’s put it that way. The toxic fandom is meant for the people who sit behind their computer screens and bring negativity. Those aren’t the people who are invested in the show. The ones who are really invested in us are the people who are here [at BravoCon], the positive, loving, amazing people.
Heather Dubrow, Real Housewives of Orange County
Being on Bravo for more than a decade, what do you make of what is happening at this moment?
I think they are really bridging the gap between show and fan. And this BravoCon is such an indication of that.
What kind of content do you think people want now from a Bravo show?
Authenticity is always what works on reality television. That’s all it is. And the shows that do well and stand for a long time are the ones with a group of people in a situation that is authentic. That what the audience wants to see. That’s how we like living. And that’s what’s really interesting. It’s always supposed to be like—no one’s going to know what we’re talking about—Mrs. Kravitz, like I’m peeking through the window of someone's life. What’s going on? Interested! Fascinated! Some things fans can connect with, and some things they can’t. That’s what Bravo’s about.
Erika Jayne, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Is being on a Real Housewives show different now?
I don’t think it is. I think you should have come into a Housewives as an independent thinker, and that’s what you need to be now.
What is the future of Bravo?
I don’t know. I don’t think any of us know what the future of anything is. Life could turn on a dime tonight. I don’t know what my future is. So I can’t speak to that… I’ll tell you this; I don’t think Bravo is going anywhere. This is a really big event.
Sanya Richards-Ross, Real Housewives of Atlanta
What do you think is the direction is that Bravo should be headed in?
I think that it’s a tough thing, because I feel like the fans, especially the loudest fans on social media—I don’t think that the social media rhetoric is the heartbeat of the average fan. I think the fans love to see friendships, and they love to see the tough issues being covered. It’s the noisy fans on social media want to see us just fighting all the time. I think the balance is tough, and it’s tough on the network: How do you continue to have those big moments and have those friendships develop while also giving the fans what they want? That drama. So I’m happy I’m not a producer, or that I’m not on the Bravo team. I’m on the other side of it. And I hope that they can continue to find that balance.
What has the experience been like with fans as they interact with the tougher issues and conversations on your show?
Oh, it’s been good for me, personally. I know there’s a lot going on. But my toughest issues have been sharing about my miscarriage and all that kind of stuff. And I can’t tell you how many women have reached out to me and said, “Thank you so much, because I went through that and never talked about it. I didn’t realize I still had this residual pain, and it allowed me to open up.” So it’s been very positive for me, personally. I know there are a lot of other big issues that are a little bit difficult for the network to deal with [when it comes to] our individuals. But on my end, it’s been very positive.
Ashley Darby, Real Housewives of Potomac
Does it feel different being here with some drama happening in the background?
I think, on a bigger scale, there’s literally a war happening in the world, and we’re here having a good time, right? So I think that we have to be present in this moment. And that’s what all of us will seek.
Jackie Goldschneider and Jenn Fessler, Real Housewives of New Jersey
Does it feel different being on Real Housewives now?
Jackie: I don’t feel like there is a difference. For me, it feels like the same old Bravo. I think behind the scenes there may be some things going on in corporate. But in terms of the Housewives shows, it feels the same to me.
Jenn: This is only my second season, so I haven't felt the change. But in terms of an outsider looking in and reading things and hearing things, it does sound to me like things are shifting.
What is the balance between the fun and the high drama?
Jackie: I wish there was a little bit more fun in it, but it’s a rough season. But I think the Jersey people like it when it’s rough. It would be different if the Jersey dynamics were in the new New York season, you know? Then you’d be like, “What they hell are they doing?” But in New Jersey, you expect it.
Gina Kirschenheiter and Emily Simpson, Real Housewives of Orange County
What’s most different now about Housewives versus when you started?
Gina: It’s definitely gotten bigger. And there’s more of a formula to it, I would say.
Emily: I think people like more confrontation. Don’t you think so? It’s more dramatic.
Gina: I think the fashion has gotten better.
Emily: Gina’s fashion has gotten better.
Gina: The hair, all of that. But we’ve been here for a minute. It’s been six years since I started. I’ve seen the evolution of the show. I’ve seen the evolution of Bravo, in general. Even just having a BravoCon. It’s like it became a whole world. It’s not just one show. We’re a world.
Daisy Kelliher, Below Deck: Sailing Yacht
What does it feel like to be on Bravo during this transition moment?
My show premiered at the beginning of that transition. I wasn’t a part of when maybe it was more debaucherous six or seven years ago. The world is changing in that sense, so for me, it feels very natural. And things are always going to change. It’s important to be flexible. So I’m just here along for the ride trying to be the best chief stew and Bravo cast member as possible. I’m here for the change. It’s just important to be flexible and ride the wave, no pun intended.
Kate Chastain, Couch Talk
What is it like being a joyous event, while there is some talk about controversies?
I think that’s background noise. I haven’t had those personal experiences myself. I love being part of the Bravo family. I have been for almost a decade now. And I’m just really happy to be here celebrating what has been so good to me.
