Andy Cohen and Carole Radziwill. Robin Marchant/Getty Images
The rise and fall of Andy Cohen and Carole Radziwill’s friendship may just be fit for reality TV.
Before becoming one of the faces of Bravo, the Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen host appeared to have a friendly relationship with Radziwill that extended into her initial seasons on The Real Housewives of New York City.
As seasons went by and the drama heated up amongst her cast members, however, Radziwill found that her dynamic with Cohen began to change. It all came to a head during a 2018 reunion show when she argued that her boss was siding with Bethenny Frankel over her.
“It was very clear to me — and then later on, I think, the audience — that he was supporting Bethenny in this way that I’ve never seen him at any other reunion do that,” she said on a July 2019 episode of SiriusXM’s The Jenny McCarthy Show. “The very first thing I did after the [season 10] reunion was I called my accountant because I wanted to know, ‘If I [left], how long could I go without a big paycheck?’”
Andy Cohen has been candid about his complicated relationships with the Real Housewives — especially after they exited their respective franchise — over the years. Cohen became the Vice President of Original Programming at Bravo in 2004. Two years later, he served as an executive producer for Real Housewives of Orange County, which premiered in […]
When Radziwill said goodbye to RHONY, she also seemingly said farewell to her friendship with Cohen. Keep reading to follow their complicated history:
Carole and Andy’s Friendship Before ‘RHONY’
Long before Radziwill documented her life for the Bravo cameras, the journalist appeared to have a friendship with Cohen. “I’ve known her for a long time,” he once told Us Weekly. “Since the late ’90s, I think.” After Radziwill joined RHONY for season 5 in 2012, Cohen said that he had to draw a line with his friend to keep things fair with other Bravo stars. For instance, he had to cut her from his holiday party list.
Of her supposed friendship with Cohen, Radziwill seemingly saw things differently. “You know that was Bravo-generated,” she shared on a November 2021 episode of the “Behind the Velvet Rope With David Yontef” podcast. “I never went around saying Andy and I are really close friends. I never said that. … We have mutual friends, so I would see him, you know, in New York at dinners and stuff, but we were never, like, close.”
Carole and Andy’s ‘RHONY’ Reunion Disagreement
During the RHONY season 10 reunion show, viewers stayed seated as they watched Radziwill and Frankel dissect their feud and changing friendship. In a surprise twist, fans also witnessed Cohen get caught in the middle of the tension when Radziwill said he was “so full of s–t” after he said she and Frankel “bashed each other” all season.
“I thought it was very Trumpian of her, and I was very surprised by that because what show is she watching? All I was doing was pointing out, ‘Yeah, you both have been talking s–t about each other,’” Cohen said on Bravo’s Play by Play after the episodes aired. “I wasn’t saying anyone was talking more s–t or not. … Don’t deny that you never said anything bad about this person, ’cause you both were talking s–t about each other.”
In response to Cohen’s remarks, Radziwill shared via X: “Lol. I stand by #FOS. Trumpian is what @Andy did. Created a false equivalent. He said we both bashed each other ‘all season.’ Look at the clips. I was in the same outfit a black top. B/c it was all the last episodes in interviews taped 2 weeks before the reunion. #PlayByPlay.”
Carole Leaves ‘RHONY’
After six seasons on the show, Radziwill announced she was leaving RHONY. “I have decided to return to what I do best — journalism and producing,” she said in a July 2018 statement to Us Weekly. “I have worked with amazing producers, made great friends and I’m thrilled to leave frenemies behind. I will remember this entire experience with delight, humor and a veracious accuracy. Next.”
In a separate Instagram Story post, however, the reality star seemingly provided more reasoning for her exit. “If you were doing something that was forcing you to do things that went against your own value system would you walk away regardless of the pay?” she asked. “It’s a tough decision.”
A Book Reignites the Feud
When author Dave Quinn released his book Not All Diamonds and Rosé: The Inside Story of the Real Housewives from the People Who Lived It in 2021, readers were hoping to learn more about Radziwill and Cohen’s friendship breakup.
According to Cohen, he wasn’t impressed with how Radziwill announced her exit from RHONY. “Carole’s post basically implied that she was leaving a really toxic situation. It really rubbed me the wrong way because I really felt like I had changed her life,” he said. “She is not the person I used to know.”
In response, Radziwill shared a message via X that stated: “Just another man telling a woman she ought to be more grateful. Housewives changed Andy Cohen’s life, not mine. And Bravo built a 100 million dollar franchise on the backs of women. Let’s not get it twisted.”
The Real Housewives of New York City premiered in 2008, but not every Housewife has gone the distance. The season 1 cast of RHONY included Luann de Lesseps, Ramona Singer, Bethenny Frankel, Jill Zarin and Alex McCord. While Kelly Killoren Bensimon joined the cast during season 2, Sonja Morgan became a full-time cast member during […]
Who Is the Anonymous Source?
In June 2024, Cohen was profiled for a New York magazine article. In the piece, one former RHONY cast member — who chose to remain anonymous — slammed the changes made throughout her tenure. “The show went from silly humor about middle-aged women getting drunk and being delusional about their status and having funny, petty arguments, to Housewives investigating and doing opposition research and making up false story lines and leaking stories on each other and trying to get one another fired,” the anonymous Bravo alum alleged in the article.
Days after the article was released, Cohen shared his suspicion about who was behind the comments. “I know exactly [who it is]. It’s Carole Radziwill, no question,” he said on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy. “It’s not even a question that it’s Carole. But it was so weird. I was, like, ‘Carole has said a lot of unkind things about me that she has tweeted and been quoted about.’ So, I was like, ‘Why are you going off the record here?’”
Radziwill later addressed the speculation via X writing: “Someone can make a truthful observation & there’s always one short-ish dude waiting to be offended. At this point why would any normal person use their name? They’re all so vindictive which I believe is the point of the quote& confirmed by Andy’s nasty response.”
Reconnecting Away From the Cameras
Despite years of distance, Cohen confirmed that he has been able to have good conversations with Radziwill in private.
“Carole and I reconnected recently, actually,” Cohen told People at Bravo Fan Fest on November 23, 2024. “It feels great. Carole and I knew each other for years, before she was ever on the Housewives — for many years. I think I’ve known her more outside of the Housewives than I have in the Housewives. So it was definitely good to reconnect.”
Radziwill also confirmed to the publication that she was able to talk to her old friend after nearly six years. “We both came to understand that our disagreements had everything to do with the high-pressure nature of the show and very little to do with our friendship, which proceeded it,” she said. “Andy and I are very much on the same page now, and I’m happy about that.”