"It was so bad," Andy Cohen said of his audition

Andy Cohen Reveals He Auditioned for Mario Cantone’s Role on Sex and the City

Andy Cohen was in the running for much more than just a cameo appearance in Sex and the City.

On Watch What Happens Live on Monday night, Cohen, 51, reminisced with actor John Benjamin Hickey and SATC alumna Kristin Davis on how he auditioned for a huge role in the beloved HBO series.

Get push notifications with news, features and more.

“Michael Patrick King for some reason was like, ‘Come in and read for … ‘ I think the part that wound up going to Mario Cantone,” Cohen said. “I think it was the the party planner, which was a huge part.”

Cantone, 59, played gay party planner Anthony Marentino in the HBO series, as well as both films.

“I don’t think the expectation was for it to wind up being such a huge part,” Cohen said. “Mario is so great that they were probably like, ‘Okay, well we have to.’ But it was I think that party planner.”

Image zoom Andy Cohen and Mario Catnone Mike Coppola/Getty; Craig Blankenhorn/New Line Cinema/Kobal/Shutterstock

RELATED: Andy Cohen Reveals Secret Sex and the City Cameo: ‘Shirtless in a Gay Bar’

Hickey, who appeared in an episode of the show in 1998, recalled helping Cohen unsuccessfully land the role.

“Twenty years ago we sat at Benny’s Burritos and I worked on the audition with him and I kept saying, ‘Sweetie just turn it down,’ ” the actor said.

Added Cohen, “He goes, ‘What are you doing?’ It was so bad.”

Davis, who starred in the show as Charlotte York, explained that the talk show host used to frequently visit the cast on set.

“Andy used to come around and hang out with us and so we all just wanted him to be there more,” said Davis, 54. “So we were like, ‘Give Andy a part so he will be around all the time.’ ”

Image zoom Warner Bros.

“I was just working behind the scenes,” Cohen explained of his role at the time. “I was doing nothing.”

In the final season, Cohen managed to land a brief role as a Barney’s shoe salesman. But that wasn’t the only cameo Cohen made in the HBO series.

“And I was also in a gay bar shirtless next to Sarah Jessica in season 4,” Cohen recalled. His shirtless scene had remained relatively unknown to fans over the years — until he highlighted it on Instagram last year.

“You may know that I was a Barney’s shoe salesman in the last season of #SATC but were you aware I appeared in Season 4 (I think) shirtless in a gay bar standing next to Carrie Bradshaw?” he captioned a photo of his scene with real-life BFF Sarah Jessica Parker on Instagram. “Sounds about right!!”

According to Cohen, the shot was cut out of the TV version and now only lives on DVD.

In his brief cameo in the season 6 episode “Let There Be Light,” he played an unnamed shoe salesman who helps Carrie out during her trip to a department store.