Lisa Vanderpump finally admitted what was the final straw that made her quit ‘RHOBH,’ after starring on the show for all nine of its seasons. The Bravo star just couldn’t deal with any more ‘nastiness,’ among other stresses.
Lisa Vanderpump, 59, is ready to articulate what drove her to quit The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills before the Season 9 reunion even happened. After giving tidbits here and there about her dissatisfaction over the demise of her relationship with the cast, via brief interviews and tweets, the longtime RHOBH star took time to really reflect on her departure while speaking to People. “I had a great time on Housewives. But to have negativity during a time in my life when I needed to try to be positive…I decided it was over,” Lisa admitted to the outlet in an interview published on Nov. 13, adding, “I shouldn’t have even committed to do that season. If I had had my choice, I would have just wallowed in grief. I wasn’t ready.”
Lisa had begun filming her last season just months after her brother Mark Vanderpump died from suicide in April of 2018. The restaurateur still needed time to heal, and the cast tensions against her didn’t help — not that it was the first time she had been at the center of it. “I’ve been in a position where the whole cast has been against me before,” LVP continued. “But this time, our foundation was taking a bashing from the women, and it didn’t deserve it. And suddenly, to start dealing with them all screaming and shouting at me on that first trip [to the Bahamas], I thought, ‘What the hell am I doing?’ And that was really it,” Lisa revealed, referring to the cast trip that happened in Aug. 2018.
Lisa then turned to the subject of PuppyGate, which instigated most of the drama that rocked Season 9 of RHOBH. Rumors floated that LVP allegedly leaked a story about Dorit Kemsley adopting a dog from her foundation, Vanderpump Dogs, which (accidentally) ended up at a kill shelter. Kyle Richards even confronted Lisa over this gossip, which cost their longtime friendship. “Why would I want to shine a light on the fact that one of our dogs ended up in a kill shelter? I know that nothing with Dorit was intentional. But it all just became too much quite frankly,” Lisa said now, reflecting on the rumor that destroyed her friendship with Kyle.
Cast drama aside, the timing of Season 9 just didn’t work with Lisa. Philanthropic causes like her dog rescue organization and The Trevor Project, a nonprofit that fights suicide among LGBTQ youth, demanded most of Lisa’s attention. “I just had more things going on in my life at that time,” she explained. “[Grief] encourages you to take stock. I’m a strong woman, but I don’t have room in my life for nastiness.” While Lisa’s disappointed with her cast relationships, she doesn’t want to burn any more bridges.
“I don’t want to shoot arrows,” Lisa clarified, who added that it “was nice” that a “couple people reached out” after her mother Jean passed away this past June. “And I don’t want to get down in the dirt and react to every negative thing these women have said about me. That’s not who I am, nor who I want to be,” Lisa added. And she’s not just haunted by bad memories, as the Vanderpump Rules star concluded, “I don’t want to look back on my time on The Housewives as a negative experience. I had wonderful moments and laughs and giggles. But I have no regrets about leaving. And I’ve moved on.”
Lisa shocked fans when she nonchalantly revealed her intentions not to return to RHOBH in an interview with DailyMailTV on June 4. She confirmed her decision two days later while speaking EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife at the “Real to Reel: Portrayals and Perceptions of LGBT’s in Hollywood” event on June 6. “I’m glad it’s all over. It was a horrible year for me personally and professionally working in that situation, so moving forward now may be time for this,” Lisa told us at the time.