Even though the stars of The Real Housewives of Orange County seem to think that social distancing is just for poor people, Bravo is taking it seriously.
How is that disrupting and delaying production? And is Bravo really planning to throw out the first half of RHOC to start fresh post-quarantine?
As you can see in the video that we have included with this post, Andy Cohen did a remote interview with Nischelle Turner for Entertainment Tonight.
First up, she asks about footage of Denise Richards flipping out at Kyle Richards that was shown in the teaser but not in the actual episode.
That, Andy explains, will be aired when the time is right — when Denise announced to Bravo that she was unwilling to film.
It will, he confirms, play in at least one flashback as the season continues.
Speaking of Denise, Andy says that "the Brandi Glanville of it all" comes up in Episode 10, so we’re about halfway to that point.
Andy notes that ratings are up this season because, well, it’s a genuinely great season and even before we hit Denise’s scandal, it’s captivating.
He mentions that viewers can expect a lot of episodes from Beverly Hills.
This ties nicely into the next set of questions: how is the pandemic really impacting production across the franchise?
The Real Housewives of Dallas was just about to begin filming, Andy recalls.
And The Real Housewives of New Jersey had barely begun to film this season before they were forced to stop and enter lockdown.
"There’s kind of been a pause," Andy characterizes.
And as for The Real Housewives of Orange County, he reveals, the ladies were "almost" in the middle of their season when the pandemic hit.
Andy acknowledges that the ladies of the OC have been "shooting some stuff themselves."
We assume that he means more than just their very controversial mask-wearing trip that violated social distancing rules.
Andy admits that he and the rest of Bravo are anxious to resume filming.
For now, he says, the need to wait and watch to see when it is safe to do so for the Housewives and for the production crew.
Nischelle then asks a question that has been on our minds, too — are they going to ditch pre-quarantine footage now that the world has changed?
After all, these seasons run on storylines. It’s hard to imagine anyone’s arc from March 5 still being relevant after months of lockdown.
"We have great stuff shot," Andy reveals. "I wouldn’t want to lose anything."
"You know," he continues, "what we shot are the building blocks of where the next season will go."
Nischelle then also asks about The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, a new spinoff that we have all been eagerly anticipating.
It was announced in November, at BravoCon.
Andy reveals — to our delight and quite frankly to our relief — that their first season "was wrapped" before the pandemic shut things down.
As for when we can all look forward to watching Salt Lake, Andy teases: "Watch this space." Meaning that he will let the world know.