Andy Cohen Explains How Cities Are Chosen For The ‘Real Housewives’ Franchise, Weighs In On Chicago, St. Louis

Andy Cohen opened up about the way in which cities are chosen for his Real Housewives franchise during the March 12 episode of Vicki Gunvalson’s podcast, Whoop It Up with Vicki.

While chatting with the former Real Housewives of Orange County cast member about his past efforts to cast Real Housewives shows in both Dallas and Houston, Cohen admitted that he didn’t like the potential shows’ initial casting. Then, years later, Bravo ultimately launched The Real Housewives of Dallas with cast members Cary Deuber, Tiffany Hendra, Stephanie Hollman, LeeAnne Locken, and Brandi Redmond in April 2016.

“We decided early on [that] we should do Real Housewives somewhere in Texas,” Cohen recalled.

Cohen then said that after launching shows in Orange County and New York City, True Productions brought a number of women in Atlanta to his attention for a series that was initially going to be called Hotlanta. However, after looking into the ladies further, he moved forward with The Real Housewives of Atlanta, which began airing in October 2008.

According to Cohen, the women of his Real Housewives franchise weren’t all cast to appear on his series. Instead, many were brought to him for shows that weren’t going to be a part of the franchise, including the women of The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 1 — notably Gizelle Bryant, Ashley Darby, Robyn Dixon, Karen Huger, Charrisse Jackson Jordan, and Katie Rost.

“Whoever would have saw that was coming? But they brought that to us and it was a great group of women and I thought that was genius because I was like, Potomac, no one will ever see this coming. Dallas was so obvious, like of course they’ll do Dallas,” Cohen shared.

As for the shows that have not yet been launched, Cohen admitted that there has been a lot of requests regarding a possible Real Housewives of Chicago. However, despite having cast for the potential series years ago, he has not yet found the ideal group of women.

There’s also been a lot of people asking for a Real Housewives of St. Louis, but Cohen isn’t interested. As he explained, he feels as if he’s already seen the concept.

As The Inquisitr previously reported, Cohen has remained on good terms with Gunvalson following her sudden exit from The Real Housewives of Orange County. He actually shared a tribute to her on Instagram after she confirmed she would not be filming scenes for Season 15.