Andy Cohen is all for casting a transgender “Real Housewife” — as long as she is friends with other women on the cast.
“I think if there was a trans ‘Housewife’ who was friends with other ‘Housewives’ that would be the way,” the Bravo exec explained during an appearance at the Newport Beach TV Fest, per the Daily Mail.
“You wouldn’t want it to be stunt. You know, you wouldn’t want it to be like, ‘Let’s cast into this.’ If someone was friends with that person, then that would be great.”
However, Cohen admitted though that he has “no idea what franchise that would be.”
The “Watch What Happens Live” host, 58, also revealed that during the early seasons of “Real Housewives of New Jersey,” production had “flirted with the idea” of casting Jaime Laurita, a gay man who is Caroline and Dina Manzo’s brother.
“I mean, look, I think that in terms of casting a gay guy on the show — this is a show about women and celebrating women. So I’d think we’d leave it there,” Cohen, who is also gay, concluded.
Since the “Real Housewives” franchise premiered in 2006, several full-time cast members who are openly part of the LGBTQIA+ community have been featured.
Braunwyn Windham-Burke of the “Real Housewives of Orange County” was the first openly gay woman on the franchise.
She publicly came out as a lesbian in December 2020 after already starring on the show.
“Making off-color jokes about me being intimate with a woman, that’s not OK. Those are microaggressions,” she told us in February 2022, following her firing from the reality TV show.
“After I came out, having to prove that I was gay, that should never have been tolerated. That is a microagression. That is homophobia.”
“Real Housewives of Miami” star Julia Lemigova made history as the first out lesbian “Housewife” to be cast in the franchise when she joined the reboot in 2021.
The former model has been married to tennis legend Martina Navratilova since 2014.
Bravo cast another openly gay woman when former J.Crew creative director Jenna Lyons joined the “Real Housewives of New York City” for its Season 14 reboot in 2022.
Additionally, Racquel Chevremont, who openly identifies as lesbian, was cast on “RHONY” for Season 15.
