Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd are thrilled to be done with the “bitches” of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” After all, they have “Vanderpump Rules,” Vanderpump Dogs and several restaurants/bars to keep them busy.
When TooFab caught up with the couple at the fourth annual Vanderpump Dogs Foundation gala Thursday night, they spilled on everything from: life after “RHOBH”; a Kyle Richards BravoCon run-in; Camille Grammer’s decision to return for Season 10; that rumored Vanderpump Dogs spin-off show; their secret to a successful marriage and, of course, Giggy, who was present for the evening’s festivities.
Life Post-Housewives
Lisa quit the series before Season 9 wrapped after a fallout with her castmates over drama with one of the adoptive pups from her rescue center. Though Lisa had an admittedly rough time toward the end of her run on the show, Ken says she couldn’t be happier.
“Oh, she’s a different person! Oh, yeah. She’s got eight bitches off her back,” he told us, adding that he’s had no contact “at all” with any of his wife’s former co-stars.
As for Lisa, she said she was “focusing on the dogs tonight, not the bitches.”
“There’s so much going on in my life with other things I’ve been doing,” she explained, adding that she hadn’t been “paying much attention” to her former co-stars or the show. “‘Vanderpump Rules’ is a big show, we’ve opened up Vanderpump Cocktail Garden, we’ve been working with the rescue, we’re opening next door to TomTom, I’m talking about other projects, so it’s a lot. I’m doing something else for Caesars [Palace], so there’s a lot going on. I haven’t really given it the attention that maybe other people think it deserves.”
When we asked Lisa if she managed to find the time to sleep, she chuckled and said, “Not very much, I have to say. I don’t sleep as much as I should, but if I’m passionate about something…”
BravoCon and Kyle Richards
Ken smiled when we asked about his experience at the first-ever BravoCon. “It was amazing!” he said, praising his wife. “She brought the roof down, the house down. It was unbelievable. She was great.”
Lisa also had a great time, explaining she had a surprisingly cordial run-in with her once-best friend, Kyle, and her husband, Mauricio Umansky.
“She actually came to our table, but on her way to her table,” Lisa explained. “She stopped and said hello, and I said hello. I was with friends and having dinner. Mauricio hugged us and we exchanged, and that was it.”
“Listen, just a hello is no effort for me, but that’s all she was gonna get,” she added before giggling as she quoted her husband. “Goodbye, Kyle!”
When we asked if there was any hope for reconciliation, Lisa replied, “I have no idea.”
Camille Grammer’s Decision to Return
Camille, Lisa’s only real friend at the time of the latter’s departure from the show, stuck around for the rest of Season 9. The reunion, for Grammer, was just short of a bloodbath. She ended up storming off and threatening to quit, but she made the decision to return for Season 10 in what is believed to be the capacity of a friend role, which she’s had on and off for several years.
Still, Lisa was surprised by her friend’s decision.
“She says to me she had such a hard time at the reunion, and I didn’t watch any of it, but she said she was devastated, how upset she was,” Lisa said. “And then she says she’s going back for more! I’m like, ‘Well, okay! That’s you! You’re making those decisions.’ You know, for me, when I’ve had enough, I’ve had enough.”
Potential Vanderpump Dogs Spin-Off?
Lisa’s publicly stated she’d love for her rescue facility to be the center of another television show but said Thursday night that it “wouldn’t necessarily have to be on Bravo.”
When asked when fans could expect confirmation of said potential show, she replied, “You’ll have to ask NBC or Bravo!”
For his part, Ken was careful not to say too much. “I don’t about that! You better ask Lisa about that one!” he told us, adding that he’d “love it” because of the attention it would bring to their cause.
“I’d love to do it if it was available,” he said. “They wouldn’t even have to pay me!”
What’s the Secret to Your Long and Happy Marriage?
“I just do what I’m told,” Ken quipped. “I like to give her her freedom. When I met her, she was only 21 and I was 35, so I had to let her grow up and into herself.”
When we asked Ken what his favorite quality about Lisa was, he replied, “She’s just always happy and so honest. That’s what the Housewives didn’t realize — how honest she is. She doesn’t lie.”
For her part, Lisa told us that marriage isn’t always rainbows and butterflies but maintained it was always worth it if it was with the right person.
“Every marriage is a challenge. I mean, it is! You kind of agree, agree, and then you don’t. And then you wanna slap him, and you don’t, but you think about it. You wanna run for the hills, and then you don’t,” she said jokingly.
“I mean, we’ve been married forever,” Lisa went on, adding that she actually met Ken through her only brother, who died last year after committing suicide. “We’ve always been very good friends, and we have the same ideals and same kind of family values. And I guess we’re both kind of a little religious, and we both love animals and we work well together. But of course sometimes it’s challenging. That’s how men are!”
Giggy!
Ken held an impeccably dressed Giggy in his arms as he spoke to us. Despite reports the pup, who has alopecia, was not in good health, Ken assured us that “Giggy’s fantastic! He’s 10.”
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