Lisa Vanderpump isn't slowing down after Scandoval. The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star joins Bustle over Zoom from a hotel room in London, where she serves as a judge on Gordon Ramsay's Food Star and previously competed on Fandom in Los Angeles. DePump Rules Season 11 Reunion, a Whirlwind 36 Hours in Los Angeles The show's reunion will take place in Los Angeles. She called it "very difficult emotionally."
It's been more than a year since Tom Sandoval's cheating scandal first broke, catapulting "Pump Rules" into the zeitgeist and earning the show its first Emmy nomination after ten seasons. But after the latest reunion show, which aired this spring, she said they were still in the midst of the storm.
“It’s almost like one step forward, two steps back,” Vanderpump said. Her breakout role on RHOBH led to a spinoff centered on her (now former) staff at West Hollywood hotspot SUR.
But scandal and setbacks didn't stop her. Hulu's "Vanderpump Villa," her fifth reality show in the past decade, premieres April 1. In the show, the restaurateur pilots a new hospitality venture in the French countryside, welcoming guests to a luxurious all-inclusive mansion called Chateau Rosabelle.
Vanderpump had the idea for Rosabell's Castle before she turned it into a TV show, but she hasn't hired anyone yet. So instead of having an already high-profile staff member appear on TV, as she did on " Pump Rules," she had to find a staff member who could do the job and be on camera.
"We don't want people who just want to be on TV," she said. "We need real stewards, bartenders, managers. It's not easy."
The result is a cast with equal parts experience and drama, and she credits executive chef Anthony with bringing the entire chateau together. "If you collapsed, the whole thing collapsed," Vanderpump recalled. While she says her new hires have the ability to thrive in her world, she admits, with her signature dry humor, that they also "have the potential to be nasty people."
Below, Vanderpump talks about her RHOBH audition tape, her final scenes as a housewife, and the stage storyline.
Did you live in the villa with the cast?
Oh, I was there. My eyes are everywhere. My family lives in our other castle, but my whole [apartment] is on top of the villa. You'll see me looking out the window, walking down the stairs, spying on them, which is what I love to do.
Which celebrities would make good guests at Rosabell Castle?
Trixie Mattel is so funny and a good friend of mine. [She] calls everyone on everything. And Lance Bass, he's one of my best friends. I can think of half a dozen people I should visit.
Are there any housewives among them?
No, oh, Garcelle [Beauvais]. I love Garcel. Unfortunately, after I left, she joined The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills .
If you had to bring one Vanderpump Rules cast member to work at Rosabell Winery, who would you choose?
DJ James Kennedy always lights up the party. No matter how naughty he is, he always makes me laugh and he has a normal life now. Peter Madrigal is always in the background, but he never makes a mistake. Lara [Kent] is a fool.
What do you remember about that first audition tape for RHOBH ?
I thought, "I shouldn't be here. I'm really not cut out for reality TV." I was sitting there and they asked, "Well, how's your sex life?" I said, "You mean, right My husband or someone else?" I remember laughing to myself and thinking, "This is bullshit." And Andy (Cohen) saw my tape and he said, "I love her." I don’t care about myself, don’t put pressure on myself, and think, “I don’t care if I do this.”
Has your show been unfairly edited?
I never thought [production company] Evolution did an unfair cut. They said I was probably one of the only people who never said, "Cut this off." I thought, well, if I said it wrong, there must be a reason why I said it. I will learn from it. But sometimes [the show] is just too mean for me. In the final scene of Housewives , I lost my mind and thought, "Get out of my house."
What do you think is the most played out storyline?
Dorit [Kemsley] was decorating a room in Robert Earl's restaurant chain [Buca di Beppo], and then Andy asked me how I felt about her as a restaurateur, when I had opened 37 restaurants, and she was decorating a room in the back. . Yes, it felt staged. Sorry, Robert Earl, my good friend, but that's bullshit.
That's a designer, not a restaurateur.
[She] wasn’t really a designer. Did you see that?
Oh, that's a thing. Are there any clips you’d like viewers to see?
Oh, hundreds. Reality TV shows your worst moments, but never your best moments — when I spoke before Congress, when I opened [Vanderpump Gardens] at Caesars Palace, many, many, many things. I always ask, "Why don't you show this?" I get, "We have something more interesting." Tom Schwartz is talking to Katie Maloney, or Kyle Richards Tickling her ass. I'm like, "Okay. Thank you guys."
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
