Andy Cohen Says Radio Prank Was All Howard Stern's Idea, Just Went Along With It

Andy Cohen says he wasn't part of the plan to fool Howard Stern listeners and the media into thinking Howard was out at SiriusXM... telling us it was something Howard cooked up himself.

We got Andy in New York City after Monday's radio show prank ... and our photog asked him whose idea it was to take over Howard's show and tell listeners Howard wasn't coming back.

Andy says Howard was the sole mastermind here ... and he was just happy to go along with Howard's plan.

The Bravo host says it was fun tricking folks into thinking Howard really did get fired ... and he found joy in reports from Variety and the Associated Press, who were quick to post stories about Howard's supposed ouster.

Andy tells us the beauty of Howard's idea was that it seemed believable to folks ... and he says listeners were either really mad or thought it was funny.

After Andy duped people into thinking Howard was done at Sirius, the man himself rejoined the show and explained his extended absence, ripped media reports claiming trouble at Sirius and told his fans he wasn't going anywhere.