Andy Cohen Revels in His Rise From CBS Intern to Bravo Star

variety.com:

Scott Huver While Andy Cohen appreciates that being added to Hollywood’s legendary Walk of Fame on Feb. 4 is certainly a major milestone in the increasingly multi-faceted career of the Bravo reality television producer and host, he says from the moment he began working in media he felt like a shining star.“There’s never been a point in my career where I haven’t felt like I made it, because I just felt like getting in the door meant that I made it,” Cohen tells Variety.

His journey began as an intern at CBS News and he rose through the network’s ranks, ultimately heading up reality programming at Bravo, where he delivered brand-defining mainstays including “Project Runway,” “Top Chef” and, of course, the ever-juicy “Real Housewives” franchise.

Along the way his palpable passion for the rapidly evolving reality form provided an on-ramp to his on-camera career. He’s emerged as a perennially popular TV personality hosting the anything-goes “Real Housewives” reunion specials and the freewheeling “Watch What Happens Live,” where he displays his singular knack for getting reality contenders and A-list pop-culture idols to drop their typical late-night-chat poise and defenses for far more uncensored, dishy and occasionally bawdy discourse.

Cohen, too, rarely shies away from his own on-air messiness; following a recent tipsy, ungracious shade-tossing at competitors during his annual New Year’s Eve broadcast on CNN with pal Anderson Cooper, his self-aware response (“Um, I was a bit overserved,” he tweeted the next morning) only appears, typically, to have even further endeared him to his audience.“I just feel like it’s a fantasy,” says Cohen. “I came from St.