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Lisa Vanderpump Sets the Record Straight on How She Knows James Kennedy and His Family
The Vanderpump Rules restaurateur explains how the DJ got his start at SUR.
Every Thursday, Bravo Digital’s Megan Segura and Erik J. Mac bring you exclusive interviews with Bravolebs like Vicki Gunvalson, Nene Leakes, and Stassi Schroeder, plus expert commentary and behind-the-scenes secrets straight from Bravo execs. Listen, like, and subscribe to The Daily Dish on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Play, and make yourself part of the conversation by tweeting us @Bravotv with the hashtag #BravoDailyDish.
Monday's episode of Vanderpump Rules featured a visit from James Kennedy's mother, Jacqueline Georgiou, to Lisa Vanderpump, in which she pleaded for her son's job back (clip below). James had been fired after making body-shaming remarks to Katie Maloney-Schwartz, and Katie gave Lisa an ultimatum: fire James or she quits. While it's been said throughout the show that Lisa was friendly with James' parents, Jackie and Andros Georgiou, and that's how James got a job at SUR, their exact relationship has never been quite clear. Well, Lisa revealed all during a recent interview with The Daily Dish podcast.
"Well, we're not that close," Lisa clarified. "It sometimes appears [that way] because of his perception a little bit ... but I met James' parents through Bruno Tonioli a few years ago just before he started work for us, who's the judge on Dancing with the Stars, who's an old friend of mine. Prior to that, I had met Andros and Ken knew Andros vaguely. I'd met Andros with George Michael and Andros had been around the scene in London, so we knew him a little bit. But then we had dinner that night and they both said, you know, could you give one of my sons, James, a job, maybe as a busser or a barback? He probably, because we'd started Vanderpump Rules by then, I think maybe we were in the first season, thought, 'OK, I want to get involved in this,' and obviously then he started sleeping with Kristen Doute, and he was well in there like a rat up a drain pipe."
Lisa also explained how she felt about Katie giving her an ultimatum; hear that and more in the podcast episode above. And make sure to tune in to Vanderpump Rules every Monday at 9/8c. Preview, below.