Andy Cohen certainly did not expect the Real Housewives to become as big as it has. On Wednesday night’s (May 22) episode of Watch What Happens Live, the Bravo staple admitted that he once thought his boss was “crazy” for thinking the long-running franchise would expand beyond one city.

Cohen’s confession came amid an After Show conversation with Top Chef judges Gail Simmons, Kristen Kish and Tom Colicchio, who are currently in the throes of Season 21 of the hit cooking competition show.

“I cannot believe this show has been going 21 years but then you just said I called it,” Cohen told Simmons.

The cookbook author then recalled a chat she had with Cohen, the show’s executive producer at the time, during Season 4.

“We sat down at dinner and I said to you, ‘Andy, this is Season 4. This is insane,’” she remembered. “Because I had not come from a television background. [I said], ‘How long can this show possibly go on?’ And you said, ‘I don’t know. Season 11?’ And I laughed in your face.”

According to Cohen, he had a very similar experience when he started The Real Housewives of Orange County in 2006.

“By the way, I thought that my boss was crazy when she wanted to call the Real Housewives the Real Housewives of Orange County in case we ever did it in another city,” he said. “I was like, ‘That’s crazy! We’re never gonna do it in another city.’”

He added, “So here you go. Dream big, everybody!”

Bravo has since housed a total of 11 different Housewives franchises, nine of which are still ongoing, along with four seasons of the Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. Some of the shows have even sparked spinoffs like Vanderpump Rules, which followed Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump‘s restaurant staff, and Kandi & The Gang, which followed Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kandi Burruss‘ restaurant staff.

Cohen, who is an executive producer on the Real Housewives, recently revealed that it “took a while” before he knew the franchise would be a success.

“We almost pulled the plug on the first season,” he told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month. “I remember a meeting where we talked about if we wound up killing the Real Housewives, what would the loss be? By that time, we were $400,000 in, so we decided to just push forward.”

And it’s a good thing they did!

Watch What Happens Live airs Sunday through Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.