Technology

Why Taylor Swift Hasn't Been on Popular Late Night Show

2025-11-21 16:07
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Andy Cohen wants Taylor Swift on his late night show, but hasn't been able to get her.

Jenni FinkBy Jenni Fink

Senior Editor, Politics

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Taylor Swift hasn’t been on Watch What Happens Live, but, according to Andy Cohen, it’s not for a lack of trying.  

The Context  

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (WWHL) stands out in the late-night landscape for its lively interviews and celebrity candor, but, notably, Swift has yet to grace the Bravo show’s set. 

With a female-driven audience, WWHL hits Swift’s target demographic but has a noticeably smaller reach than other late-night shows, and Swift is known for being very strategic with her marketing and the interviews she chooses to do.  

What To Know 

At a fan Q&A during BravoCon in Las Vegas, Cohen said that he's tried to get the pop superstar on WWHL.  

“I would love to,” Cohen said in reference to having Swift on the show. “She has not said yes before. I don’t know, some people consider me a little dangerous.”  

Cohen reiterated that he would “love” to have Swift as a guest in the WWHL Clubhouse and told the audience to “tell her people.”  

Newsweek reached out to Swift’s publicist, Tree Paine, via email for comment.

Cohen created a completely different kind of late-night show that brought together celebrities and reality television. He told Newsweek, while at BravoCon, that at the start of WWHL, the “real stars” were reality stars. Now, everybody around the world knows who they are.  

“All these years later, to be able to see Dorinda [Medley] pop up on The Tonight Show, that's kind of a way that I feel like we helped. Maybe democratize the reality stars so that they're not just in their own silo,” Cohen said.  

...

Cohen’s WWHL helped revolutionize how people saw reality television, but it doesn't have the biggest audience on late-night TV>

In Q2 2025, Watch What Happens Live averaged 343,000 total viewers, according to Nielsen. By comparison, other late-night shows such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon far outpace WWHL in terms of viewership.  

Just because Swift hasn’t been on the show herself doesn’t mean she hasn’t been a topic of conversation, though. In July, Cohen asked Denise Welch, the mother of Swift’s ex-boyfriend Matt Healy, about Swift's album Tortured Poets Department. Fans believe it was at least partially inspired by her breakup with Healy.  

Welch said she was “glad” that she lost the role of being Swift’s mother-in-law. She said she has nothing against Swift, but “it was tricky.” When fans questioned why Cohen would bring up Swift during the interview, Cohen defended the question by saying, “Why not?”  

Cohen also warned his friend and Bravo star Jeff Lewis against criticizing Swift. During an episode of WWHL, Lewis said he doesn’t “give a s***” about Swift's The Life of a Showgirl. Cohen cautioned that he doesn’t want to “piss those Swifties off,” so Lewis pretended to be excited about the album.  

What Happens Next 

Swift’s appearance could be a huge ratings boost for WWHL, but there’s no indication that Swift has any plans to go on a late-night show.  

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