Lisa Vanderpump opened up about how her brother’s death ultimately led to her decision to exit The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills after nine years.
The Bravo personality, who was an original housewife on the reality series and also stars on spinoff Vanderpump Rules, confirmed rumors that she would be leaving the Housewives franchise.
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In a new interview with Daily Express, Vanderpump revealed she did not have the best experience filming Season 9 of the Bravo show.
“I wasteful most days filming Housewives last season,” she admitted. “The whole cast ganged up on me, and I was just weary.”
She also said the death by suicide of her brother, Mark, 59 left her in a dark place, emotionally.
“I was emotionally depleted.I started filming two days after my brother’s funeral, which was challenging at best,” Vanderpump continued. “I wanted to take the year off, and didn’t want to be in the emotionally combative situation that Housewives often entails. But I owed them my loyalty, and commitment.”
Season 9 revolved mainly on the drama surrounding Puppygate, in which many of the women accused Vanderpump of sharing a story about Dorit Kemsley to Radar Online, prompting a falling out between Vanderpump and the other women, including her former best friend Kyle Richards.
“I didn’t have time for the petty bull—t, really,” she told the publication. “People are screaming at you. They were arguing about who said what about a dog! I’ve had enough. It just became too much.”
Housewives producer Andy Cohen, who has previously admitted he agreed to create RHOBH after seeing Vanderpump’s tape, hopes she will return some day, saying: “The door will always be open to Lisa.”
However, Vanderpump currently says that will not happen. “No,” she told the outlet, before clarifying: “Who knows?”
News of Lisa Vanderpump‘s exit came shortly after Cohen confirmed she did not attend the Season 9 reunion taping.
“I made the decision to leave,” she told Us Weekly last week. “It was a very difficult year for me, personally and professionally. I had wonderful things happen this year, opening up and TomTom and the cocktail garden in Vegas. The Housewives, it’s just, it’s emotionally too difficult to deal with.”
She had previously told DailyMailTV she had no intention of getting together with the other Housewives after the events of Season 9.
“The objective of the reunion is to reunite, right? And I have no inclination to reunite with the women who’ve been harassing me for 10 months now,” she said to the outlet. “So in all probability, no.”
She said it would be difficult for her to return for another season. “I think they’ve made it pretty impossible for me to go back frankly. So … no,” she said.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
