Bravo isn’t shy about drama, but the network still has to make decisions about how real is too real and how far a storyline should go.
During their interview with Variety, Bravo’s top boss, Frances Berwick, was pushed on exactly that: how they evaluate ratings, how they handle pressure from the outside world, and how they decide when a show has crossed into territory that no longer fits the brand. What made her answers stand out is how steady she remained. There was no panic, no backtracking, no rewriting history. She simply laid out how Bravo thinks, what has changed, and what hasn’t.
“I don’t think it affected decision-making, honestly. We’ve kept on doing what we do. And as I’ve said before, I think there were certain things that we were changing anyway, about our production protocols, and we’ve continued to do that. We want to make sure that our sets are absolutely in line with our values, and so we’ve continued to press ahead with that. But we were doing that anyway. There’s not been any sort of sea change as a result.”
She doubled down by explaining that the production changes were coming from inside the network, not pressure from the outside world.
“There were things that we were doing anyway. We want to make sure that we have our cast and our production crews’ well-being top of mind. We’re very focused on things like alcohol consumption. And that goes for all of our productions. There’s a reason there’s a two-drink maximum on shows like ‘Love Island.’ I would not attribute that to any outside force. That came from within our organization. And that’s about evolving generally.”
The conversation shifted to content, specifically how dark is too dark. Andy Cohen had fielded a fan question about The Valley at his “Ask Andy” panel, which set up Berwick’s answer.
“I will say we think about it. We’re an escapist brand. When viewers come to us, they’re like, ‘I want to escape — but I also want to relate.’ But we follow people’s real lives, and we are as authentic as we possibly can be. We’re not overly producing situations. We are following people, fly on the wall style. And sometimes, things happen; life happens.”
She admitted that this season went to heavier places.
“I’m not gonna lie, I thought this season of ‘The Valley’ — it was pretty dark. But that was following people’s real lives, and I have to say, and I’ve heard feedback this week — and I’m sure the cast members of ‘The Valley’ have heard it — from a number of people who felt deeply moved because there were cast members going through things that were similar to their journey’s and difficulties. I think that’s really powerful.”
Then she brought it back to the brand promise.
“But overly, yes, we want to balance the light and the dark and the fun.”