TV
exclusive
April 4, 2023 | 3:30pm
He’s not just a moderator; he’s a referee!
Andy Cohen was directly involved in trying to break up a near-brawl on the set of the recently filmed “Vanderpump Rules” Season 10 reunion.
“Let me tell you something — I didn’t leave with any bruises, but I was called into action,” the Bravo honcho exclusively told Page Six on Tuesday in New York at Variety’s 2023 Power of Women event, presented by Lifetime.
Asked whether viewers would be “shocked” by those who almost got physical with each other, the media personality replied, “Listen, you know who the group of people on the stage are; they’re all hotheads! So I mean, shocked? It doesn’t seem that shocking to me. I mean, it’s a bunch of hotheads in a hothouse environment.”
Sources close to the situation previously told us that the instigators of the close-call scuffle were not Tom Sandoval, Raquel Leviss or Ariana Madix.
During our chat, Cohen, 54, insisted that he tried to establish some ground rules before everyone took their seats.
Follow Page Six’s coverage of ‘Scandoval’:
“You know, at the reunion, I talk to everybody. I go, ‘Guys, there’s so much interest in this. Let’s try to be OK here so that the viewers can be excited,’” he recalled telling the gang.
“This is the thing — there’s so much interest in what’s going on in the Bravo universe that I always think that it’s fun when things play out on the shows,” he went on.
“I mean, I love watching ‘Succession’ and not knowing what’s gonna happen. And I’m as passionate about ‘Succession’ as I am about the ‘Housewives.’”
The father of two admitted he was surprised when news of Scandoval broke on March 3 but hesitated to condemn Sandoval, who was having a full-blown affair with Leviss behind longterm girlfriend Madix’s back.
“That’s a loaded question,” Cohen replied when asked whether he thought the bar owner, 40, was a “piece of s–t.”
“I would say that as someone who has been friendly with both of them — and he’s from St. Louis; he’s from my hometown — yes, I was disappointed,” the Missouri native explained.
“You’re disappointed to see that because … I have an over-10-year relationship with Tom that’s a professional relationship. But also, he’s from my hometown, and we’re pals that way. You want everybody that you’re in relationships with to be happy and successful and thriving.”
However, Cohen believes Sandoval “would certainly agree that this was not his finest moment.”
Though the wannabe rock star has issued two public statements on the matter, apologizing for his behavior, he seems to be very much with his former mistress.
Sandoval and the retired beauty pageant queen, 28, have been seen together several times since getting “confronted” by their angry co-stars during the March 23 reunion taping.
Cohen recently revealed that he interviewed all three love triangle participants individually before convening with the entire cast, though he made sure to “re-ask a lot of this stuff in front of the group.”
He also teased that Peacock — NBCUniversal’s streaming service — would likely “release extended versions” of what will air on Bravo.
“I think you’re going to get extras on Peacock,” he told his “Radio Andy” listeners, “and let me tell you — there is a lot of reckoning to get.”
Madix, 37, dumped Sandoval after she found a sexually explicit video of Leviss on his phone, which led to the discovery that the two had been “communicating inappropriately” since at least July 2022.