Andy Cohen is ready to share how he really feels about Jen Shah's plea reversal.
The Bravo producer was live on-air as part of his Sirius XM show Radio Andy when news broke that the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star had plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing on July 11. And though Andy addressed the major development in Jen's year-long legal battle in the moment—mostly to express how conflicted he felt—he's now explaining that he spoke too soon.
"I did not have time to read anything about it [or] process it," Andy said on the July 13 episode of his radio series. "I really didn't have time to react."
Once he was finally able to digest "what I thought was a pretty stunning confession," Andy was unsurprisingly upset. "I'm especially upset for her victims. I'm upset that she lied for so long and claimed to me that she was an example of someone being wrongly accused," he said, reflecting on the RHOSLC season two reunion during which Jen "was so dogmatic" about her innocence.
"I'm also upset because, frankly, you get to know someone and you get to like them," Andy continued. "You want to cheer them on, and you hate to think that they're capable of this behavior."
Since that was the case for him and Jen, Andy explained that he hopes "to get the opportunity to speak with her and to ask those questions."
A Radio Andy caller then phoned in to discuss the matter, pointing out that Jen didn't just "dupe" Andy—or more importantly, the victims of the alleged telemarketing scheme—she also duped RHOSLC's audience. Even Jen's co-star Meredith Marks, who expressed serious doubts about Jen's innocence on the show, eventually came around, the caller noted, pointing to the fact that she posted what seemed to be a defense of Jen just a day before the July 11 hearing where she was charged. Responded Andy, "yes!"
"There you go," he added before thanking the caller. "Anyway, I've said it before I'll say it again. If you have something to hide, reality TV may not be the avenue...Am I right?"
Jen, for her part, is currently facing a maximum of 30 years in prison and up to $9.5 million in fines and restitution, in addition to a $6 million forfeiture.
Following her plea change, her attorney Priya Chaudhry shared a statement with E! News. "Ms. Shah is a good woman who crossed a line," Chaudry said. "She accepts full responsibility for her actions and deeply apologizes to all who have been harmed. Ms. Shah is also sorry for disappointing her husband, children, family, friends, and supporters. Jen pled guilty because she wants to pay her debt to society and put this ordeal behind her and her family."
(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)