![Fresh off hosting New Year's Eve with Anderson Cooper on CNN, Andy Cohen shows off his chiseled torso as he walks shirtless on the beach in Miami with his 10 month-old son Benjamin on his shoulders. The creator of the Real Housewives franchise, is also seen with his personal trainer. *SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS*** Please pixelate children's faces before publication.***. 02 Jan 2020 Pictured: Andy Cohen; Benjamin Cohen. Photo credit: MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA576898_025.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/andy-cohen-abs-mega.jpg?fit=288%2C440)
Andy Cohen stripped down to raise awareness about skin cancer — for the second time in his life. 30 years after the Bravo executive and Watch What Happens Live host originally posed nude in New York City (see the original pic below!), he has done it once again for a partnership with skincare brand EltaMD to remind people to use sunscreen. In the resulting image, which can be seen below, the 54-year-old star wore nothing but sunscreen as he looked up at the sky while sitting on a ledge in Midtown Manhattan.
The image is a recreation from his 1994 shoot, where he posed between the front legs of one of the lion statues outside of the New York Public Library. Both pictures were shot by Spencer Tunick. The only thing that seems to have changed in the three decades between them is that Andy no longer has a lion’s mane of hair on his head, as he did in the original shoot.
Taking to his Instagram to promote the collaboration on Wednesday, May 17, he wrote, “Thirty years ago, I posed for photographer @spencertunick (swipe for that image). And I did it again… May is #SkinCancerAwareness Month and I’m partnering with @eltamdskincare to remind you all to wear sunscreen and #GetNaked… for a skin check with your dermatologist.” Prompting some follower participation, he added, “Tag your friends who need this reminder in the comments! For every tag in the next 30 days, @eltamdskincare will donate a bottle of sunscreen to the @curemelanoma foundation, up to $100,000 in value #EltaMDPartner”.
Andy was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2016 after a visit to the dermatologist that was prompted by fellow television host, Kelly Ripa. “There was a dot on my lip that I had for a while that I was not paying attention to. I was at an art opening for Gloria Vanderbilt, Anderson [Cooper’s] mom, and Kelly and Mark [Consuelos] were there. Kelly came up to me and goes, ‘What’s happening with your lip?’ I go ‘I don’t know.’ She goes, ‘Get that checked out today. That is skin cancer,” he recalled to Jenny McCarthy on her radio show in 2020. He was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer. Luckily, he had it removed and hasn’t had such a scare since that the public knows about.
The father of two further opened up about the impact his cancer diagnosis had on him in an interview with Ellle. “My bout with skin cancer completely changed my relationship with the sun. I spent many years worshipping the sun, which turned out to be a very toxic relationship!” he said in an article published on May 17. “I don’t lay out in the sun anymore, obviously, and I’m really careful about taking care of my skin in and out of the sun.”
Andy also gave some insight into this original photoshoot with Spencer. “The original photo was taken as I was preparing to cut off a head of hair I’d been growing for years,” he remembered. “I wanted to commemorate that I had it. A pal hooked me up with Spencer, who pitched the idea of showcasing my lion’s mane in front of the lion at the NYPL.”