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Andy Cohen has revealed the one irritating part of co-hosting CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live special with his friend Anderson Cooper.
Cohen, who is entering his eight consecutive year as Cooper’s co-host, revealed the most “annoying” bit about the whole evening in a recent interview with People.
“Well, [it’s] that I have to be the straight guy,” the host of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live said. “Literally, [Cooper’s] in a puddle of giggles for the last 90 minutes of the broadcast, and I’m the one that’s hitting all the commercial breaks.”
Cohen then poked fun at his and Cooper’s roles towards the end of the New Year’s Eve special.
“I kind of turn into Mr. CNN for the last 90 minutes and he turns into Mr. Bravo,” he added. “It’s a very funny role reversal.”
Earlier this month, CNN announced that Cohen will again join anchor Cooper as host of the network’s New Year’s Eve Live, broadcast from Times Square in New York City.
The news came two months after he told Variety that he was expecting to return to the special and looking forward to Cooper taking shots live on the air.
“After what Anderson did in that hurricane, I’m not only giving him tequila, I’m throwing it at him,” he said, referencing Cooper getting hit by flying debris while covering Hurricane Milton.
Cohen pushing a reluctant Cooper to choke down tequila shots, all while creating viral moments on social media, was a tradition that was briefly interrupted during the then-CNN CEO Chris Licht’s tumultuous reign. After Licht took over in 2022, he announced that the network would dial down the on-air drinking during its New Year’s Eve coverage.
However, Licht was fired months later in 2023 after the release of an unflattering June 2023 profile of him inThe Atlantic, which captured the former Late Show producer appearing to take moves to make the storied cable news network more appealing to Trump fans.
CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen begins at 8 p.m. ET and will feature a wide array of comedians, musical performers, and celebrities.
Some of the artists that will be featured on the broadcast include Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who will perform live from his residency in Las Vegas, Sting, Meghan Trainor, Shania Twain, Diplo, and Lil Jon. Additionally, Mickey Guyton will perform “Imagine” live from Times Square, and comedians Whitney Cummings, Amy Sedaris and Ziwe will appear.
Elsewhere around the country, national correspondent Randi Kaye will report from Key West, while correspondent Stephanie Elam will host coverage from the Bahamas. CNN International host Richard Quest has once again been tasked with reporting from the crowds at Times Square.
After Cohen and Cooper sign off at 12:30 a.m. ET, anchor Sara Sidner will be joined by CNN data analyst Harry Enten and sports journalist Cari Champion to take over the broadcast and count down the new year in the Central Time Zone in Austin, Texas.