The father of reality TV, Andy Cohen, dishes on his favorite reality TV moment, explains what makes a great reality star, and admits fans will never catch him on a reality show.
While promoting his new show on E!, For Real: The Story of Reality TV, Andy revealed the wildest reality TV moment he’s ever seen.
“Wow, that’s a very difficult question,” he explained on TODAY. “The table flip on [Real Housewives of New Jersey] … I think that ushered in a new moment of shock and awe on my part.”
As fans know, he’s referring to the infamous moment Teresa Giudice began flipping a fancy dinner table while she screamed at her former co-star, Danielle Staub, and called her a “prostitution wh*re.”
As a reality TV expert of sorts, the Watch What Happens Live host went on to explain why he thinks the genre is such a hit with viewers.
“I think that it is unpredictability and, in a weird way, relatability,” he said. “We’re kind of seeing ourselves. We may not think Teresa Giudice flipping that table is seeing ourselves, but there’s something that we root for or against or connect with (while) seeing real people on TV.”
Though fans have complained about certain Housewives not being as forthcoming as others, Andy seems to agree that in order to become a successful reality star, one must truly be willing to share the good, the bad, and the ugly. But, he also believes having a great sense of humor is another huge factor.
“It takes first of all doing the trust fall and saying, ‘OK, I’m gonna do this. I’m not gonna block anything. I’m gonna let the cameras totally in,'” he declared. “For me, one of the things I look for is humor. I just think someone who can make me laugh or smile is someone that I want to watch, and then you can go along for the ride of everything else going on with them.”
As for whether the host would ever open his own life up for the cameras or consider doing his own reality show, Andy said it’s highly improbable.
“No! I would be horrible because I wouldn’t trust the producers and I would be editing myself,” he told E! News. “It would just not go well.”
He added, “I think I would be editing myself. I like to have [the] final cut like Kris Jenner. I like to have final cut.”
Of course, Andy also discussed his new series and teased a couple of interesting moments from the episode that will feature several OG Housewives.
“There are a lot of behind-the-scenes stories that people have never heard before,” he dished. “I showed Caroline [Manzo] and Teresa and Kyle [Richards] their audition reels, which they hadn’t seen since they were cast on the show. That was surprising to them. Also, I think it was really surprising hearing Caroline and Teresa’s thoughts on each other after all these years.”
For Real: The Story of Reality TV premieres Thursday, March 25, on E! at 9/8c.
Photos Credit: Sara De Boer/startraksphoto