[EXCLUSIVE] Andy Cohen to Leave BRAVO, Plans To Brand Himself As Ryan Seacrest

Could Andy Cohen have plans to strategically exit stage left?

According to our inside source (who shall remain anonymous) the 45-year-old executive plans to make a major move this year, where he’ll be less involved in BRAVO and more involved in increasing his ‘in front’ of TV persona. According to our reliable source, Cohen is more interested in keeping his producer hat on, but producing larger shows and productions that he owns. Specifically, he’d like to create his brand, similar to that of media mogul Ryan Seacrest.

Seacrest dabbles in a bit of everything — television hosting (New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, American Idol), radio producing (American Top 40, On Air With Ryan Seacrest), television production and business investment (Ryan Seacrest Media). So the big question is, will he completely leave the network? According to our sources, he’ll continue to host his Watch What Happens Live show, which was renewed for two more years. He’ll also continue to host BRAVO’s reunion shows and serve as executive producer to The Real Housewives franchise.

Last November, Deadline confirmed that Cohen stepped down from his post as head of development for Bravo Media. He’s already in the final faces of launching his production company, Most Talkative, which has signed a multi-year first-look deal with Bravo, the network’s first pact of this kind.

Andy’s move to create Seacrest opportunities seems very obtainable. He’s worked in production and development for the past 10 years. Cohen started at Bravo in 2004 as VP of Original Programming & Development and was upped to SVP and then EVP of Original Programming & Development in December, 2010. 

This move is unconfirmed but is supposed to be announced early this year. In the meantime, we’ll keep our eyes and ears open on this one. Story developing. P.S. Could Andy be the next Ryan Seacrest?

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