Lisa Vanderpump and Caroline Manzo Avoid Former Housewives Costars at Epic BravoCon WWHL Panel
Bravo fans attending BravoCon — the network’s first-ever convention — were in for a treat on Friday night, as over 75 stars showed up for a special filming of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
The event took place at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom.
It made history as the largest audiences in the show’s 20 year history, with over 2,000 people in the audience. It also scored a place in the record books as having the most Bravolebrities ever sharing the same stage, all the stars sticking around after each one of their segments.
Though the night was filled with surprises — including the announcement of the newest RHONY cast member, Leah McSweeney — not all stayed for the fun all night long.
Caroline Manzo and Lisa Vanderpump both split after chatting with Cohen, likely to avoid conflicts with their estranged Real Housewives of New Jersey and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast members, respectively.
Manzo specifically spoke out about her former frenemy and costar Teresa Giudice during her chat with Cohen, calling Giudice “an ass” for slamming her “crooked life” previously.
“Words should be taken with responsibility and I think she is way off base.”
Meanwhile, the RHOBH cast members Erika Girardi, Dorit Kemsley, Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave, Denise Richards, Kyle Richards and Lisa Rinna — after their fallout with Vanderpump and her exit from the show — promised that the upcoming tenth season would be filled with drama, despite reports that have said otherwise.
“It’s much more exciting than what’s out there in the press,” Denise said. “It’s a lot of drama and a lot of fun. And I think people will be pleasantly surprised.”
That drama is exactly what led to Vanderpump’s departure. “I had a great time on Housewives,” Vanderpump tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “But to have negativity during a time in my life when I needed to try to be positive … I decided it was over.”
Later, on Saturday, Kyle addressed Lisa’s WWHL exit. “Lisa did not want to bump into me,” the actress said. “She left the stage last night before we got on. I’m happy to see her and say hello.”
“I bumped into her twice at Neiman Marcus and then I just bumped into her at a restaurant last week,” Kyle added. “I’m not kidding, it was the tiniest restaurant and the hostess put us right next to each other. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ And we went past and we said hello. Well, I did.”
RELATED: Lisa Vanderpump Reveals Why She Left RHOBH: ‘I Don’t Have Room in My Life for Nastiness’
So who else was there? Here’s the full list of stars who showed up, in order of appearance:
Former Housewives Jeana Keough (Real Housewives of Orange County), Jill Zarin (Real Housewives of New York City), Caroline Manzo (Real Housewives of New Jersey), and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars Adrienne Maloof and Kim Richards.
The Real Housewives ofAtlanta stars Cynthia Bailey, Eva Marcille, and Kenya Moore.
Vanderpump Rules‘ stars Lisa Vanderpump, Brittany Cartwright, Kristen Doute, James Kennedy, Lala Kent, Ariana Madix, Katie Maloney, Tom Sandoval, Stassi Schroeder, Tom Schwartz, Scheana Shay, and Jax Taylor.
The Real Housewives of New York City‘s Luann de Lesseps, Dorinda Medley, Tinsley Mortimer, Ramona Singer, and new Housewife Leah McSweeney.
Below Deck franchise stars Captain Lee Rosbach, Captain Sandy Yawn, Kate Chastain, Chef Ben Robinson, João Franco and Colin Macy-O’Tool.
Shahs of Sunset stars Reza Farahan, Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi, Mercedes “MJ” Javid and Mike Shouhed
The Real Housewives of Orange County‘s Shannon Storms Beador, Kelly Dodd, Vicki Gunvalson, Tamra Judge, Gina Kirschenheiter, Emily Simpson and Braunwyn Windham-Burke.
RHONJ’s Jennifer Aydin, Dolores Catania, Teresa Giudice, Jackie Goldschneider, Melissa Gorga and Margaret Josephs.
The RHOBH cast.
Married to Medicine‘s Toya Bush-Harris, Mariah Huq, Dr. Heavenly Kimes, Dr. Contessa Metcalfe, Dr. Jacqueline Walters, Quad Webb and Dr. Simone Whitmore.
The Real Housewives of Potomac‘s Gizelle Bryant and Ashley Darby.
The Real Housewives of Dallas‘ LeeAnne Locken and Brandi Redmond.
Southern Charm‘s own Patricia Altschul, Craig Conover, Kathryn Dennis, Cameran Eubanks, Austen Kroll and Shep Rose.
Don’t Be Tardy‘s Kim Zolciak-Biermann.
From the Million Dollar Listing franchise, Fredrik Eklund, Josh Flagg, Steve Gold, Ryan Serhant, and Tracy Tutor.
As for any drama on stage, all seemed to be fine — that is, until Cohen played a game called “Squash That Beef” in which he attempted to settle fights between various feuding Housewives.
Singer found herself in the hot seat most of all, fighting with Bryant, Catana and Gunvalson over a sea of social media arguments.
One example? Singer’s claim that RHONY made the Housewives show popular, despite RHOC premiering first.
“We put you on the map!” Gunvalson said, before the two stormed off in opposite directions.
BravoCon is running through Sunday across three venues in the Big Apple: The Manhattan Center (311 W 34th St), Skylight Modern (537 W 27th St) and Union West (535 W 28th St).
A total of 88 Bravolebrities are said to be in attendance total. More than 50 live events are on the docket, including performances, insider panels, podcasts, dining experiences, photo opportunities and a Bravo bazaar marketplace. (A full breakdown of events is available at BravoCon2019.com.)
For those wanting a trip down memory lane, there will be a Real Housewives museum with more than a decade’s worth of behind-the-scenes photos, reunion dresses and show memorabilia.
The weekend will close out with a live performance of Luann de Lesseps‘ hit Countess and Friends cabaret show on Sunday.
