Andy Cohen Reveals the Dealbreaker Blocking Real Housewives from St. Louis
St. Louis is off-limits for the Real Housewives, as executive producer Andy Cohen shuts down the idea to spare his hometown—and his family—from the franchise’s glare.
If you were holding out hope for The Real Housewives of St. Louis, go ahead and release that balloon. Andy Cohen says it is not happening.
"I think it is a hard no."
Why St. Louis is off the board
Cohen, 57, grew up in St. Louis before moving to New York for his broadcast career and eventually helping dream up Bravo's Housewives juggernaut. Asked by local station KMOV about bringing a season to his hometown, he shut it down fast. The problem is not the city. It is the fallout. He does not want his mom, dad, sister, and every family friend calling to say who auditioned, who got cast, and who is mad about their edit. In his words, he does not need that in his life. He already wrangles enough drama across the existing shows; putting one in his backyard would multiply it because everyone he actually knows would have an opinion.
Where the Housewives machine is right now
For anyone keeping score, the franchise spans a lot of zip codes already. Here is the current landscape:
- Orange County (the original)
- Beverly Hills
- New York City
- New Jersey
- Atlanta
- Potomac
- Salt Lake City
- Miami (revived and very much back in rotation)
- Dubai (Bravo's international edition that airs stateside)
Dallas is the one that got the axe. So yes, Cohen already has a full plate without adding a St. Louis spin-off to the menu.
Life, kids, and the bandwidth question
Cohen also pointed out he has plenty of noise in his world outside TV. He is a dad of two: son Ben (born in 2019 via surrogate) and daughter Lucy ( born in 2022 via a gestational carrier). Back in 2022, he told Us Weekly he was not looking to have more kids — unless he falls hard for someone and the conversation changes. He has been open about dating (he is gay) and says if he meets the right person, he will make the time, even with a schedule that is basically always booked. Translation: he is busy, but not closed off.
As for his Bravo future, he has joked he is not retiring until they physically drag him out — which, given the current franchise sprawl, does not sound imminent.
Still loves St. Louis, just not moving back
None of this means he is done with his hometown. Cohen told KMOV he has been visiting a lot lately and every trip kindles the affection all over again. He is not moving back, but the family is there, and he clearly still gets a charge from being home — just not enough to greenlight a Housewives season that would have every cousin texting him about casting.