Deirdre Connolly came to Embassy Row in 2009 to helm the company’s production of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live! with Andy Cohen. Her prior experience producing MTV’s flagship daily show, Total Request Live (from Times Square in Manhattan), and her eventual relocation to London to launch the English version of TRL for MTV UK proved to be a winning combination. With Deirdre as show runner, Watch What Happens Live! blew up, experiencing double-digit growth across all key demos and averaging 1.6 million viewers per night, often beating the other late night cable competition. Deirdre, now Co-Executive Producer of WWHL, credits the show’s tiny team of less than ten staffers with the show’s success in its first five seasons, and says her proudest accomplishment may just be assembling that team.

In addition to her ongoing duties with WWHL, Deirdre also works as a Co-EP on other ER projects, handling everything from development to delivery of live and multi-camera pilots and series.

Deirdre is originally from Hingham, MA where her parents own a small Irish art gallery. They spend time matting and framing photos of Deirdre, Andy and other Watch What Happens Live! team members posing with any Real Housewives, Bravolebrities or celebrities that come to the show’s studio, affectionately known as the “Clubhouse.“ Deirdre graduated from Boston College with a degree in Political Science. But after interning for the late, great Senator Ted Kennedy, she reconsidered the idea of politics as a career knowing that she could never pull off a pants suit.

Deirdre’s hobbies include being Irish and talking about being Irish. Deirdre’s hobbies do NOT include Irish Step Dancing. Don’t ask. It’s a sore subject.