Andy Cohen Dished On How Coronavirus Is Impacting The 'Real Housewives' Franchise

The show must go on  — even if the Real Housewives can't throw shade in person. Andy Cohen gave updates on how Real Housewives shows across the franchise are adjusting to coronavirus. And while some cities, like Beverly Hills and New York City, had mostly finished filming new seasons before the pandemic hit, others are dealing with production delays, self-filming in quarantine, and even a virtual reunion — which has already included a major walk-off.

Cohen dished about the ongoing Atlanta reunion, the first ever to be taped remotely. "I was worried about it," he admitted in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. "It was Bravo who said, 'Look. Let's try to make it iconic.' It was Bravo that was really pushing to make it [a virtual reunion] happen, and it did... I was surprised [at] just how entertaining it was," he continued, saying his ability to put the ladies on mute was a particularly fun and unexpected perk.

But filming virtually also meant that production had no control over the ladies unexpectedly leaving the reunion, which OG NeNe Leakes did on part two by simply slamming down her laptop, leaving viewers to wonder if she'll come back in the next episode. "I don't know if I want to give that away, but there are some surprises in part three," Cohen teased.

While RHOBH and RHONY are keeping Bravoholics occupied during quarantine with dramatic new seasons, the women are having to film their final confessionals remotely, with their reunions also being put into question. But at least they can still film, unlike other cities.

"Dallas was just about to shoot, Jersey had just started shooting," Cohen revealed, saying that Orange County was smack in the middle of filming their season before being forced to stop due to the pandemic. "They've been shooting some stuff themselves, [and] we're anxious to start getting them all back together, obviously," he said. "What we shot are the building blocks of where the next season will go, so I don't think we wanna lose anything."

The delays in filming have even affected other Housewives shows, which had already wrapped production. Real Housewives of Potomac, for example, pushed its initial May 3 premiere date to later this summer in order for Bravo to have more new content to air throughout the year. Cohen also confirmed that the first season of the franchise's newest show, Salt Lake City, completed filming prior to the pandemic, but is still in post-production.

However, the new show may still be able to debut sooner than you may think. "Watch this space," Cohen teased. If anything can get us through the pandemic laughing, it's the Housewives, both new and OG.

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