Andy Cohen faced the press/fire this week at the Television Critics Association, answering questions about the new season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and, specifically, why Russell Armstrong has been featured despite his suicide in August.
"He was given the option to not come back or come back and he chose to come back," Cohen said. "He had spoken to producers a lot vocally about how it had helped his business being on the show, so you know, I can't speak to that."
In an interview prior to the new season airing, Armstrong referred to the show as phony BS, warning that producers edit every action and every conversation.
Did they ever considering cutting him entirely from the show, following his death?
"We had many discussions, as you can imagine, for a long time about how to do the serious discussions," said Cohen. "And I think what emerged is the story of a woman trying to extricate herself from a bad, broken marriage in which she was unhappy and in which domestic violence played a part. And that was the story that wound up emerging from the season."
That, and very high ratings, of course.
[Photo: WENN.com]
