What's Happening with Bravo's Andy Cohen

Whether he's spending his days working on the myriad of programming projects at Bravo, moderating one of the outrageous reunions with maniacal housewives or sitting in the host chair every Thursday night on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live, Andy Cohen is having a ball.

When the show debuted last summer, the show was a perfect compliment to popular Bravo programming like the Real Housewives franchise, Flipping Out or Million Dollar Listing since the reality stars of those shows often are guests and talk about what's really going on when the cameras are turned off. Cohen is also connected well enough in 'the biz' that he can get big-name, non-Bravo talent such as Sarah Jessica Parker to come join him for a cocktail on the show.

With the second season kicking off last week, EDGE's Jim Halterman called up Cohen to get an update on his busy life, what's coming up on Bravo and Watch What Happens Live as well as what the latest dating status is for the good looking, charismatic, out man who helps steer Bravo to ratings gold.

Cocktails a hazard?

EDGE: From the get-go on Watch What Happens Live, you just seemed so comfortable in the host chair. Is that a natural role for you or does it have something to do with the cocktails consumed on the show?

Andy Cohen: It's pretty natural. What's funny is that the night of the premiere of the first episode of season one, I was not nervous. I felt so calm and it was a lot of stuff that I haven't done, certainly live with an earpiece and a teleprompter and phones and all this other stuff but I feel really comfortable.

It's just the culmination of a lot of stuff that I've always wanted to do so it's fun. The booze doesn't hurt and it gets scary when sometimes during the end of the show I'm reading the Mazel and the Jackhole and I hear myself starting to slur a little bit. I think 'this is not good!' Story continues on following page.

Watch this interview with Andy Cohen:

What’s bugging Andy

EDGE: You've had some great guests outside of the Bravo people. Who would you die to get come sit with you on the show?

AC: Oh my God! So many! How about just Madonna? Diana Ross? I haven't tried for Diana Ross and I really haven't tried hard for Madonna but, look, there's so many that I love. I love funny ladies and so basically I just want as many funny ladies as possible. Kristen Johnston is going to come back [this] week. She's a really good friend of mine.

We have a really gay show [next week] with Ricki Lake and RuPaul. The great thing is that we hired a booker for this season and we've got interest from a lot of great people and I think in terms of people who start coming on the show you're going to continue seeing some fun, big names.

EDGE: I love when Jeff Lewis comes on because you see a sillier side to him than you do on Flipping Out but you two also have a great chemistry.

AC: I have the best time.

EDGE: When he was on the show, Jeff talked about how he questions the authenticity of Bravo's Million Dollar Listing. Do you agree with him?

AC: A criticism I hear about that show is that a lot of people think Chad is really wooden but the truth of the matter is if you ever meet Chad, it seems like he's reading all the time but that's who he is.

Also, that show is shot over a long period of time because it takes so long for those real estate deals to close that I feel that sometimes the continuity feels a little challenging. It is authentic but I understand what Jeff was saying.

EDGE: When you've talked about what you're obsessed about or what's bugging you, have you heard back from anyone you've talked about?

AC: When I'm choosing who I'm talking about I am pretty thoughtful. If it's someone who's a friend of mine... someone pitched me making a joke about Jennifer Aniston and I was like 'I love Jennifer Aniston. I met her over the weekend and I don't want to say anything bad about Jennifer Aniston.' I filter whom I'm talking about.

Watch Andy Cohen from Bravo on phone-in show www.ringmybell.tv:

Single? Dating? Marriage in the future?

EDGE: When we talked last summer when the show was launching, you told me that you were single. Has your status changed?

AC: You know what? I am still single. I need a beau.

EDGE: What can we do about that?

AC: How? Well, what are you offering to do? [laughs] I think I find myself attracted to a fair amount of people but then it's 'do I want to spend my life with them' or 'do I want a week of dinners?' That's challenging for every gay man but, you know what, I'm very happy and I'm having a great time.

EDGE: A few Bravo questions: Tim Gunn's Guide to Style? Is it done? The last time we talked you didn't have an answer for me because I think it was still on the table.

AC: We haven't announced anything but I think...the more that...we haven't announced anything.

EDGE: Tell me about Jackie Warner's new show. It sounds great and I know people are excited to see her on Bravo again.

AC: It's going to be very different from Work Out. It's really Jackie doing an intensive training in and out of people's homes. She's going to take a group of people who each have their own issues and transform them over a period of a few months.

EDGE: With all the recent late night talk wars...Team Leno or Team Conan?

AC: I'm Team Bravo. I mean, the only thing I can say is that I thought it was so funny that on Martin Luther King Day I turned on the TV and there all these protests and it was people protesting Conan. I thought I'd love to see this kind of activism for gay marriage or a thousand other things so I thought that was kind of funny. I like them both. I think they're both funny and I'm looking forward to reading The Late Shift 2.

EDGE: Anything else big coming up on Bravo?

AC: We've got Shear Genius coming up, which I am really excited about. There are some really big characters on that show competing this year including some really cute boys. You've got Jonathan Antin judging and a new host in Camila Alves. We have Kelly Cutrone's Kell On Earth and it's really good. The Real Housewives of New York is off the chain! It's so good. And I'm really excited about Watch What Happens Live. We're going to be here for a while on Thursday nights and I'm just excited about that show growing and people interacting within it. We have some pretty big names that are close to locking in.

EDGE: Personally and professionally, where do you see yourself in five years?

AC: I'd like to see myself married - literally, legally married - to a guy, of course. In terms of what I'm doing, I'd love to see Watch What Happens Live continue to grow and succeed. You know, this whole on-air thing with me has been very organic and it's been a great compliment to my day job, which is running programming at Bravo, so if all of this can continue to grow and bloom I think that would be great.

Watch What Happens Live airs every Thursday night at midnight EST on Bravo.

Watch Ellen Barkin on Watch What Happens Live: