‘Real Housewives’: New Salt Lake City Spinoff Coming, Andy Cohen Says

A new spinoff in the Real Housewives franchise is coming, and it will be set in Salt Lake City, Utah. Creator Andy Cohen announced the big news at Bravocon this weekend, according to a report by Page Six, and fans were taken aback. So far, there are not many details on the upcoming show.

Cohen launched the Real Housewives franchise back in 2006, and it has dominated reality TV ever since. With versions of the show in New York City, Orange County and everywhere in between, fans may have thought they had seen everything there was to see from the nation’s wealthy women. This weekend, Cohen proved them wrong.

“We are very excited to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah!” he told a crowd at the convention. “The Real Housewives of SLC!”

Cohen got specific about why the franchise was tapping this new territory, however, he was not necessarily complimentary about it.

“I have to tell you, in Utah, you’ve got the majesty of the mountains. You’ve got the majesty of the Mormon religion, you’ve got an exclusive community of people who have very successful businesses who live in their own universe,” he said.

Social media was instantly buzzing about the news. BravoCon is going on in New York City all weekend, but the news spread fast online. As it did, however, it did not necessarily get a positive reception.

“Oh no,” wrote The Atlantic reporter McKay Coppins. “Oh… noooooo.”

“I think it’s interesting that Bravo is announcing a NEW [Real Housewives] city today but don’t want to take care/fix the ones they have now,” another fan added.

Of course, many other fans were excited, saying they are “eager to see” how this new franchise shapes up. They got right to work speculating about how the culture would be represented and whether or not it was the right move for the franchise.

This whole reality TV empire began in 2006 with The Real Housewives of Orange County. It spun off into similar shows set in New York City, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, Miami, Dallas, Washington, D.C.; and Potomac, Maryland. Each one came with its own specific flavor, but in the end it focused on wealth, status and interpersonal drama.

Cohen has served as a unifying figure for all of these disparate shows. At the time of RHOC‘s premiere, he was working as the vice president of original programming at Bravo. He soon went on to host his reality TV talk show Watch What Happens Live, where he breaks down Real Housewives developments in many of his shows.

So far, there is no premiere date in place for The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.