Celebrity | Miss Universe Andy Cohen Won't Return to Miss Universe: I Could Be Arrested It's being held in Russia this year, and the former co-host is gay By Evann Gastaldo Posted Aug 15, 2013 9:19 AM CDT Copied Andy Cohen speaks on stage at the 2013 CFDA Fashion Awards at Alice Tully Hall on Monday, June 3, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Brad Barket/Invision/AP) Missing from this year's Miss Universe pageant: regular co-host Andy Cohen. The competition is being held in Russia on Nov. 9, and the country's anti-gay laws "make it unsafe for the gays who live there and gays coming to work or visit," Cohen tells E!'s Giuliana Rancic (who has co-hosted with him the past two years). He adds that he "didn't feel right as a gay man stepping foot into Russia," considering "the law is that anyone under suspicion of homosexuality can be arrested." A Change.org petition with nearly 24,000 supporters so far is asking the Miss Universe organization to hold the pageant elsewhere. Read These Next A big shake-up at the top of Ben and Jerry's hierarchy. Man initially detained in Charlie Kirk case has been charged. The woman whose review of her local Olive Garden went viral has died. Trump tell reporter, 'Maybe they'll have to go after you.' Report an error