Last June,Andy Cohencelebrated his 50th birthday at a private dinner in Manhattan with a few dozen longtime friends — but only his closest friends in the room knew that the celebration was also, as he calls it, “a going-away party.”
Cohen, host of Bravo’sWatch What Happens Liveand overlord of the network’sReal Housewivesfranchise, was going to be a parent. A surrogate in California was already carrying his son, and the father-to-be was secretly preparing for a seismic change in his life.
Mei Tao

And while becoming asingle dad for the first time at 50may seem daunting, Cohen has a web of support stretching across the country — starting with some of Bravo’s biggest stars.
“The Housewives have given me a lot of advice,” Cohen says. “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.”
“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,” he adds. “They’ve all been so lovely.”
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Other A-list helpers? Cohen’s close friends Parker andKelly Ripa.
Parker, a mom of three, says Cohen “had all sorts of smart questions and worries and concerns.”
For more onAndy Cohen’s life as a new dad, pick up the latest issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

“I have a swarm of women around who are ready to love on this boy,” he adds. “I know I couldn’t do it without them.”
source: people.com