Has the “Real Housewives” empire finally stopped expanding? The answer might be “yes” if you believe Andy Cohen, the face of the network.
When asked about the possibility of expanding the franchise beyond the recently launched “Real Housewives of Miami,” Cohen, who is also the president of original programming and development at Bravo, told OK! Magazine, “I really feel like we’re done.”
But yesterday he backtracked a bit when he told The Post, “We’re pleased with the number of cities and locations we currently have.”
While the future of “Housewives” remains up in the air, it is also unclear whether Bravo will continue with individual “Housewives” spinoffs.
The network created a reality-TV star when it plucked Bethenny Frankel from the New York edition of the show for “Bethenny Getting Married?” and “Bethenny Ever After.”
When asked about future spinoffs, a spokesperson at Bravo said, “We just don’t know.”
“We haven’t made any announcements yet, but we’re definitely not ruling it out.”
Whatever the outcome, the move would be a strange one for Bravo, as the “Housewives” spinoffs and the shows themselves have been hugely successful, for the most part.
The ugly duckling of the franchises was the Washington, DC edition that lacked the catfights, over-the-top plastic surgery and bizarre social lives featured on the other “Real Housewives” shows.
While the DC franchise was an unmitigated disaster, the other “Housewives” have been going gangbusters.
The finale of “Real Housewives of Orange County” and the premiere of “Real Housewives of New York City” both pulled in record ratings for the shows earlier this month.
In addition, the fourth season of “Real Housewives of New York City” is premiering on April 7 and the network recently announced that the entire cast of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” would be returning for a second season.
All signs that the shows’ concept still has legs.