Though the global icon has had harsh words for the reality mogul in the past, Cohen defiantly tells EW, “I’m an optimist.”

Andy Cohen names the superstar he’s still determined to get on Watch What Happens Live after past feud

Though the global icon has had harsh words for the reality mogul in the past, Cohen defiantly tells EW, "I'm an optimist."

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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February 1, 2026 12:00 p.m. ET

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Andy Cohen on 'Watch What Happens Live'. Credit:

Heidi Gutman/Bravo via Getty

- Andy Cohen is opening up to EW about which pop superstar he still hopes to book as a guest on his late-night chat show, *Watch What Happens Live*.

- "I hold out hope" that Madonna will agree to an interview," Cohen says, noting that after booking high-profile stars like Oprah Winfrey and Meryl Streep, he remains an "optimist."

- Cohen and Madonna have had beef in the past — which Cohen has attributed to other *WWHL *guests criticizing the Queen of Pop on the show — culminating in Madonna calling Cohen a "troublemaking queen" in 2023.

Andy Cohen is sending out something like a prayer in hopes a certain pop icon will open her heart to him.

Across a decade and a half of hosting *Watch What Happens Live*, the Bravo super-producer has sat down to interview some of the most famous names in entertainment, from Cher and Meryl Streep to Tom Hanks and Shaquille O'Neal. But one lucky star has proved elusive. A true blue global idol who does not seem inclined to express herself.

Indeed, Madonna has not consented to a *Watch What Happens Live *booking after 23 seasons on Bravo. And it's not for lack of trying, Cohen opened up about the impasse to * *in a recent interview to discuss his partnership with Nerds for an upcoming Super Bowl commercial. Cohen recently shared a first-look of the candy spot — his first-ever commercial for the big game — to his Instagram, with the full ad to follow.

When asked if he's hopeful that one of these days the Queen of Pop will put aside their past differences and join him in the Clubhouse, Cohen sincerely answers, "I am. I hold out hope."**

Andy Cohen and Madonna in 2009.

PATRICK MCMULLAN/Patrick McMullan via Getty

"We're in year 16. They picked us up for two more. So look, she's got *Confessions* coming out this year and, you know, I'm an optimist," Cohen explains.

Both Cohen and Madonna have been busy in recent months, with the *Like a Virgin *singer releasing a 20th anniversary edition of her landmark disco album *Confessions on a Dance Floor*, and Cohen helping producing nine separate installments in the *Real Housewives *franchise, in addition to his weekly duties hosting both *WWHL *and the SiriusXM show* Andy Cohen Live*.

But he'll always make time for Madonna, and believes they can overcome their past differences.**

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EW* *has reached out to representatives for Madonna.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter*.******"We're a little show, we're all the way down in SoHo," Cohen says, but points to past guests like Meryl Streep and Oprah Winfrey as signs that *WWHL *has major pull.

"The fact that Oprah came down before we were even five years old, that was a huge deal," he reflects.

But then there's the matter of their past differences. Cohen explained on a November episode of the *How to Fail *podcast that "the problem" with the ask "is that a lot of people have slagged Madonna off on my show and because of that it gets picked up."

Case in point, Patti LuPone, who had biting words for the singer-turned-actress who appeared in the 1996 film adaptation of *Evita —* in the leading part LuPone originated on Broadway. "Madonna is a movie killer. She's dead behind the eyes. She cannot act her way out of a paper bag. She should not be in films or on stage," LuPone said during a 2018 appearance on *WWHL.* "She's a wonderful, you know, performer for what she does, but she is not an actress."

Andy Cohen and Cher on 'Watch What Happens Live'.

Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

"I think she sees me sitting there with the guest and I'm guilty by association," Cohen reflected.

Madonna has proven to have a sense of humor about their prickly connection. After calling him a "troublemaking queen" in 2023, Cohen revealed last year that she playfully gave him the middle finger when he attended a concert of hers shortly after the comment.

On the *How to Fail *podcast, Cohen also noted that he's since texted with the pop icon. He had his producers cut together a "comp reel of five minutes of me kissing Madonna's ass on my show," which seemed to prove his good will toward her.

As *WWHL *looks ahead to two more seasons, anything is possible.

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