Andy Cohen Explains Why Cast Members Get Fired After Vicki Gunvalson And Tamra Judge Confirm 'RHOC' Exits

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Andy Cohen spoke out about the way in which producers of the Real Housewives franchise make decisions about which cast members should return for new seasons and which cast members should be fired during an appearance on Jenny McCarthy's SiriusXM Radio show.

"It’s a long conversation that goes on through the season and even during production," Cohen explained on The Jenny McCarthy Show after joking that each season's reunion should end with elimination of one of the series' cast members.

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According to Cohen, when it comes to firing members of the Real Housewives franchise, he and his team hold focus groups and do "massive research to ensure they will be making the best decision for their shows.

That said because he and his team have been hiring and firing cast members for so long, they typically know what the research will show before they actually get the official results.

“What we find is not a surprise to us. So that always makes us feel pretty good. Like oh good, this is a reinforcement of what we were always feeling as producers,” he explained.

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While Cohen and his team is typically on top of things when it comes to how certain cast members are performing on their respective series, he admitted to McCarthy during her show that there have been some surprises along the way.

“Sometimes we get a surprise where there are people who are maybe even more popular than we realized,” he shared, according to a February 3 report from The Cheat Sheet.

Unfortunately, Cohen didn't reveal which of his show's cast members surprised him the most.

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While the exits of several former cast members of the Real Housewives series have remained a mystery in regard to whether or not they were fired, Cohen wishes he and his team could be more candid with their decisions to give certain women the boot. In fact, he would love to host live sessions with fired cast members after they learn that they will not be returning so that fans can see their reactions for themselves.

As some may have seen, Tamra Judge chatted live with Cohen in January after announcing her exit from the show.

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Just one day before Judge confirmed she would not be returning to The Real Housewives of Orange County for the show's upcoming season, season 15, her longtime friend and co-star, Vicki Gunvalson, revealed she would also not be featured on the show.

Following Gunvalson's sudden announcement, Cohen shared a heartfelt post on her Instagram page in which he looked back on the many years he's spent with Gunvalson by sharing a number of throwback photos of the two of them together.

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According to Cohen, fans of the Real Housewives franchise are constantly sending him feedback on Twitter. So, when it comes to filtering through the tweets, it is extremely hard for Cohen to do.

Although Cohen certainly takes note of what he's seeing, especially when each new episode is airing, it would be impossible to take in the opinions of all of his fans and followers.

In addition to being the creator of the Real Housewives, Cohen is also the host of Watch What Happens Live.