Lisa Vanderpump clapped back at Rachel “Raquel” Leviss for saying she would only return to “Vanderpump Rules” if they paid for her therapy.
“She said that, but I think she has had a therapist on hand the whole time through filming,” Vanderpump told Us Weekly in an interview shared Thursday.
The “Vanderpump Rules” matriarch added that Bravo was “very cognizant” of the cast member’s needs and “being there even when you’re filming, saying somebody’s available for you to talk to.”
Lisa Vanderpump, pictured here on “Watch What Happens Live,” questioned Rachel “Raquel” Leviss’ reasoning for not returning to “Vanderpump Rules.”
Leviss previously said she would need “all-expenses paid therapy” to return to the hit Bravo show.
However, Vanderpump argued that the show was “very cognizant” of people’s needs during filming.
Leviss, 29, previously starred on the hit Bravo show but chose not to return for Season 11 amid backlash for her affair with co-star, and Ariana Madix’s then-boyfriend, Tom Sandoval.
Even though Leviss is now expressing interest in returning for Season 12, Vanderpump doesn’t think it’d make sense for her to rejoin the cast.
“It’s hard to integrate somebody into a situation [like this]. As I say, you can never say never … but she’s had a lot of negative things to say about ‘Vanderpump Rules,’ about producers [and] about NBC. So, I think we can safely say that ship has sailed,” Vanderpump, 63, admitted.
Leviss quit the show after facing backlash for her affair with Tom Sandoval, pictured here in June 2021.
“I think we can safely say that ship has sailed,” Vanderpump said of Leviss’ future on the show.
“It would take all-expenses paid therapy,” Leviss previously told Us Weekly when discussing what it would take for her to go back to the show.
“I would need a therapist on call and therapy sessions after every single filming session! I just don’t know if I see a path forward because it’s not a healthy dynamic. I’m trying to protect my mental health and I’m trying to live an authentic life.”
While Leviss truly believes her time on “Vanderpump Rules” is “complete,” she’s not ruling out a return to reality TV altogether.
She teased that she could see herself “doing a competition show.”
Leviss said earlier this month that she would only return to “Vanderpump Rules” if she received “therapy sessions after every single filming session.”
The former beauty pageant contestant also slammed the show as “not a healthy dynamic.”
“We can reassess in a few years and see what the next projects are,” she told the outlet.
Despite not returning for Season 11 of the Emmy nominated show, Leviss has continued to discuss both her affair and her former friends on her podcast, “Rachel Goes Rogue.”
Leviss has used her platform to call out several of her former friends –– including slamming Sandoval for playing the “victim” and claiming Vanderpump was “victim-shaming” her for suing Madix, 39, and Sandoval, 41.
Sandoval was in a nine-year relationship with Ariana Madix, pictured here, when he had an affair with Leviss.
Despite no longer being on the show, Leviss has continued to talk about the show and her former friends on her podcast.
In February, Leviss claimed Sandoval recorded an intimate video of her without her consent and subsequently sued him for revenge porn, eavesdropping, intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy.
Leviss included Madix in the lawsuit for allegedly going through Sandoval’s phone to find the video and share it.
The former beauty pageant queen will continue to fight the legal battle from afar, since she has moved back to her home state of Arizona after briefly spending some time in a mental health facility.
