What Do Bartenders Do on ‘Watch What Happens Live’ and Has Andy Cohen Hooked up With Any?
Watch What Happens Live started in 2009 as a little once a week gossip show following an explosive Real Housewives episode. But it’s kitschy format and guests going down the drunken path, created a demand for more.
“We quickly realized, as we knew when we went into it, that the format works for no matter who’s there,” host and Bravo executive producer Andy Cohen told The Daily Beast. Kevin Fallon from The Daily Beast reveals what it was like to be a guest bartender on WWHL as the reporter appeared behind the coveted bar for an episode.
He also shares why the show works so well with its audience. “With the yucksters on late-night broadcast sticking to a traditional script—hammy monologue, pre-canned banter with celebrity guests, musical performances—Watch What Happens Live was like the low-rent party down the street. It was non-conformist, unapologetic, and where everyone was having more fun.”
So what do bartenders do during the show? Are they actually making the drinks or just a fixture on the show? Also, has Cohen actually hooked up with any of the bartenders too?
The bartender is usually the least famous in the clubhouse
The typical show format is Cohen as host and then two famous guests. Sometimes Cohen mixes a Bravoebrity with an actor or musician. But sometimes the guests are two Bravo stars or two other famous people. If you are super famous, like Cher, you appear solo.
Behind the bar, off to the side, is typically someone semi-famous. A number of queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race have tended the WWHL bar, but so have local restauranteurs or authors. When Fallon was the bartender he wrote, “The third person is usually considerably less famous, in this case with fame that does not even register, who is also there to promote something. That person is the guest bartender. On Sunday night that person was me.”
This is what you do behind the bar
Although the bartender appears to be set up with mixers and booze, there is no actual cocktail creating. “I did not make a single cocktail, mercifully for everyone involved,” Fallon recalls. “All that’s required is to stand and wave energetically at the audience a few times when Cohen says your name, a bit like a tipsy pageant queen. At one point I made some goofy gasping face when Andy introduced me and did a cheesy ‘cheers!’ motion at the camera. I deeply regret this.”
However, Cohen does interact with the bartender and asked Fallon a trivia question about The Daily Beast. And Fallon says Cohen does a great job of promoting the bartender’s wares, whatever they may be.
But here’s the juicy scoop
Bravo doesn’t put water in those booze glasses, Fallon reports. ” I was handed my first cocktail minutes after arriving at the studio,” he wrote. While the drink was not to his liking, he felt pretty good about the concoction by his third cocktail. Even the audience gets hammered during the show, plus the guests are constantly given fresh drinks.
Fallon also says guests are not pre-interviewed like they are on typical talk shows. So the combination of liquor and spontaneity provides a more revealing show. Speaking of revealing, Cohen had no trouble telling Ellen he’s totally hooked up with WWHL bartenders, Entertainment Weekly reports. “I’ve been doing it for eight years,” he admitted. “They’re super cute.”
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