The “celebrity” season of Patti Stanger’s hit show “The Millionaire Matchmaker” has started on the U.S. Bravo network, but Stanger isn’t getting any love from the channel’s biggest promotion machine, Andy Cohen, a source close to the network told the Daily News.
“Andy refuses to have her on his show, ‘Watch What Happens Live, ’ ” said the source. “Patti expected to be on Sunday night following her premiere, but Andy made it clear that he didn’t want her as a guest.”
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The two have had a strained relationship since 2011, when Stanger appeared on Cohen’s show and made remarks that viewers considered homophobic, the source explained — but that isn’t the reason Cohen doesn’t want her back, the News said.
“She knows that if he were a producer on her show, or if he still used any of that programming power like he uses with ‘Housewives, ’ she would have been canceled. He just doesn’t like her personally. That’s it, ” the source said, according to the report.
Another source said things got so ugly between Cohen and Stanger that Cohen hired Donny Deutsch to appear on “Love Calling, ” a short-lived relationship-advice program.
“Patti knew that they were trying to push her out. They were trying to find someone else to do a relationship-type show, ” said the insider. “But so far everything they have done has failed. She owns the love brand on Bravo. If Bravo don’t want to promote their own talent, then it’s their loss.”
In public, Stanger and Cohen are on good terms. This month, Stanger even offered to set Cohen up with a love match, telling the Huffington Post that the Bravo host is “one hot potato, ” the report said.
“I would love to fix him up, ” Stanger said. “But he’s my boss — how do you do that? That’s a little weird, right?”
Asked to comment on tensions between the stars, a Bravo representative responded: “This is far from true — if Patti appears on (‘Watch What Happens Live’), it is always around Valentine’s Day, which is obviously the perfect match.”
