Andy Cohen on Why Bravo Passed on Queer Eye Reboot: ‘I Don’t Think It Would Have Been a Hit’

“I don’t think people are watching linear television in the way they are watching Netflix,” the Watch What Happens Live host explained of Bravo opting not to reboot Queer Eye

WATCH WHAT HAPPENS LIVE WITH ANDY COHEN — Episode 19073 — Pictured: Andy Cohen — (Photo by: Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Andy Cohen is expressing his support for Bravo’s choice to pass on Queer Eye reboot.

During his appearance on Jeff Lewis Live on SiriusXM, the Watch What Happens Live host opened up about the cable network turning down the revival of the famous reality show — and why he was in full support of the decision.

“I don’t think it would have been a huge show on Bravo,” he said on Monday. “I don’t … I don’t think people are watching linear television in the way they are watching Netflix.”

“And I think it premiered on Netflix and people loved it,” he continued. “It was going to be super expensive; Queer Eye was a super expensive show to make. And I think Bravo probably made the right move not doing that show.”

“I don’t think it would have been a hit,” he added.

Queer Eye. (L to R) Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, Bobby Berk, Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France in episode 602 of Queer Eye. Cr. Ilana Panich-Linsman/Netflx. © 2021

The original Queer Eye show, initially titled Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, first premiered in 2003 on Bravo. The reality series starring Ted Allen, Kyan Douglas, Thom Filicia, Carson Kressley, and Jai Rodriguez went on to become a successful show and even scored an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program in 2004. However, the final episode aired in October 2007 after the network ended the production in June 2006.

Over a decade later, Netflix’s reboot of the show was released in February 2018, featuring a new group of cast members: Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk, and Jonathan Van Ness. The renewed version, with its shortened title of Queer Eye, has since won multiple Emmy Awards, with its latest and the sixth season premiering in December 2021.

In March, the production announced via Twitter that the show’s 7th season is currently in the making and will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana.

While discussing the subject on Monday, Cohen, 54, also dished on the shows he regretted Bravo had canceled.

“I think shows get canceled for a reason, like the Real Housewives of Miami,” he explained. “The new version is really good — and the next season we’re shooting now is really great. But I don’t regret canceling it at the time.”

“The ratings went down that whole season, the ratings went down for that reunion,” he noted. “You know what show I regretted they canceled? And I was a fierce proponent for keeping it on — The Real Housewives of DC.”

“If you look at that cast, that was an integrated cast, it was racially diverse at a time when our shows weren’t enough, and I really liked that show,” Cohen shared, before calling out one of its featured families for allegedly leading to the show’s demise through their many controversies.

“I thought there was a lot that could have come [of it],” he said. “But I think the Salahi’s kind of tanked it.”

[via]