Andy Cohen has been refereeing anything from heated outbursts to tender moments and non-stop drama with the Real Housewives ladies for nearly two decades now. So when he became a father at 50, the host of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live was prepared for the many emotions of parenthood. And he had plenty of experienced parents to go to for support.
Cohen — Jenna Bush Hager’s guest co-host on TODAY with Jenna & Friends on April 22 — has said that stars of Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise have really rallied around him as he welcomed his children into the world.
“The Housewives have given me a lot of advice. All their mom instincts came out. As loud and funny and aggressive and wild and dramatic and everything you want to say about the Housewives, as much of all that as they are, they’re all moms, pretty much. And they’re all good moms,” he told People. “They all really surrounded me and just wanted to protect me and help me in the sweetest, most humane and lovely way that has just continued to really tickle me.”
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Over the years, Cohen has shared how his children have changed his life for the better and even wrote a book about his experience as a dad, titled The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up. Read on to learn more about Cohen’s life as a dad to his two children, Ben and Lucy, and some of the adorable moments they’ve shared so far.
How many kids does Andy Cohen have?
Cohen is a proud dad to two children: a son named Ben and a daughter named Lucy.
Andy Cohen welcomed his children via surrogacy
The Watch What Happens Live host welcomed both of his children via two different surrogates and shared that they’re “biological siblings.”
Cohen has said that his life really began when became a father. In a February 2025 Instagram post in honor of his first child’s birthday, he wrote: “6 years ago today, his life began and so did mine….”
The Bravo frontman has also confirmed that he feels complete with two kids and doesn’t have plans to add more little ones to the mix. “No, I do not [want to have more kids],” Cohen told Us Weekly in November 2022. “I’m good. Let me answer that very quickly. That being said, if I fall in love tomorrow and someone wants…I mean, then we’re gonna have to talk.”
Andy Cohen’s son Ben was born in 2019
Born on February 4, 2019, Cohen’s first child, son Benjamin Allen Cohen, is named after the Bravo host’s grandfather. Ben’s godfather is Bruce Bozzi, Cohen’s longtime friend and restaurateur, and the young boy has also become good friends with Anderson Cooper’s son, Wyatt.
Now 6 years old, Ben certainly keeps his dad entertained. The little boy has the most adorable hot take on sharing ketchup and is not afraid to critique his dad’s cooking, especially when it comes to breakfast. “I just don’t like your eggs… for no reason,” Ben can be heard saying in a hilarious video shared on Cohen’s Instagram page. And when Ben was just 4 years old, he kept his dad on his toes when he told him all about his “calculations.”
“You have the power to be a good boy, to be nice to everybody, and to participate today,” Cohen said in a video while driving Ben to camp. And very matter-of-factly, Ben replied, “My calculations don’t say that.”
While Cohen used to often share photos of Ben on Instagram, the dad of two started covering his son’s face in pictures a couple years ago. As he explained on TODAY in 2023, “The last time I showed Ben’s face [on Instagram] was when I got my star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” he said. “I just feel funny about it. People need to understand that my kids are not me and they didn’t sign up for this.”
Cohen has joked that Ben has “occasional tantrums that rivals me at a Jersey Housewives reunion” and revealed on The Kelly Clarkson Show that his son loves the song “Hotline Bling.” Ben has also already started to show an interest in working in TV, just like his dad.
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Andy Cohen’s daughter Lucy was born in 2022
Two years after becoming a father for the first time, Cohen’s family grew by one more when his second child, daughter Lucy Eve Cohen, was born on April 29, 2022.
In April 2024, in honor of Lucy’s second birthday, Cohen shared on Instagram that his daughter is a “smart, funny sweetheart who surprises me every day” and that the “female energy” she adds to their home is “welcome and needed!”
Since she was born, Cohen has shared several glimpses into life with Lucy and her adorable personality, including her “beef” with Daisy Duck.
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It all started in January 2025 when Lucy declared in a video that she thought “Daisy Duck is mean.” Cohen later updated his followers about how he tried to turn their conversations about the Disney character into a “teachable moment,” explaining that “Daisy knows what she wants … just because you know what you want doesn’t mean you’re mean.” And it worked! In April 2025, Cohen announced that “they squashed the beef” in a sweet video of Lucy hugging a life-sized Daisy. “If Lucy & Daisy Duck can figure things out, I think we can spread this vibe to the Bravoverse…,” he wrote on Instagram.
Cohen has also shared that Lucy really loves her one-on-one time with dad, no matter what they’re doing. “Any quality time that she and I get alone without Ben, she’s so excited about,” Cohen told People in 2024. “I took her to the doctor today and she talked about it like I was taking her to, you know, see the Rockettes. She’s like, ‘Daddy and I — just Daddy and I — are going to the doctor, just Daddy and I.’ So she’s very much daddy’s little girl.”
Andy Cohen on being a single dad to Ben and Lucy: “I wouldn’t change it for the world”
During a May 2023 appearance on TODAY, Cohen told Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb that while becoming a parent has made him full of new worries, he wouldn’t change a thing about this chapter of his life.
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“I accessed a weight about me and a sense of worry that I never really had. I’m now thinking — what the heck did I worry about? Five years ago, what was I worried about? My tea order?” he said, adding that he wants “to be everything” for his children.
“As a single parent, there is the feeling of ‘I need to be there’ and I’m always kicking myself for time not spent with them and trying to dissect what it all means and seeking out parent friends for advice,” he continued. “But I wouldn’t change it for the world, by the way.”
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