Mariah Carey‘s diva reputation sent Andy Cohen and the staff of Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live" into overdrive to prepare for her 2016 appearance on the show.
"There's never a dull moment with Mariah Carey - she's reliably unpredictable," executive producer Deirdre Connolly told Page Six this week. "We knew she probably wouldn't be on time so we were prepared and had three different plans, like if she's a couple minutes late, then Cohen can stall, but if she's going to be five or more minutes late, then we'll bring out the drag queens."
Connolly, who started her career at MTV in 1998 before moving to Bravo full-time years later, said Carey's lateness didn't shake up Cohen, but actually psyched him up.
"We kept getting these updates, 'she's here', 'she's not here yet', 'she's in the car', 'she's getting out of the car', so it was sort of all these miscommunications, but Andy gets a charge out that," Connolly said. "When you're doing something every day and something throws you a curve ball, it kind of gives you adrenaline and he really feeds of that and it doesn't faze him."
When the embattled pop star made her grand entrance three minutes past 11, she strutted in as if nothing was amiss.
"We were going to have the drag queens come out and then she walks up and we're like, 'Lose the drag queens. Mariah Carey's here'," Connolly recalled. "She walked out and was like, 'Oh, it's live already? OK, fine.' And just settled in. It's fun, I like a little zaniness and she's unapologetically the best kind of diva in my opinion."
Though Carey is welcome to visit the revamped Clubhouse in 2017, she's not the only mega-star on Connolly and Cohen's list this year. "We'd love to have Michelle Obama when her time opens up," Connolly said. "I think Andy's dream guests include Madonna and Beyoncé. Hopefully 2017 is the year these bookings come through."
"Watch What Happens Live" airs Sunday through Thursday at 11 p.m. on Bravo.
(Page Six)
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