James Kennedy Says It Would ‘Suck’ to End Toms Friendship

Credit: Todd Williamson/Bravo

Season 10 of Vanderpump Rules will probably go down as one of the most talked about seasons of reality TV. Unfortunately, the drama hurt the friendship between James Kennedy, Tom Sandoval, and Tom Schwartz. 

As fans know, James was once engaged to Rachel. However, his friendship with the first Tom went downhill after the cheating scandal that rocked season 10. This is despite his engagement to Rachel having been off for quite some time. 

Now, James is speaking to PEOPLE about the future of his friendship with the Toms. According to James, “It would suck to, like, I don’t know, throw it all the way over a silly mistake.” He also said their relationship moving forward depends on “how they act.” 

He continued, “It’s definitely a work in progress. It always is. I mean, one minute we’re up, like the next minute we’ll be down, we’ll see how this season pans out.”

James also spoke to PEOPLE about getting his dog, Graham Cracker, back from Rachel and how he was the missing puzzle piece. For context, she kept the dog after their break up but then returned him in July 2023. This is despite her claims of him taunting the dog. They adopted him in 2018, and James has since changed his name. 

The Vanderpump Rules star even spoke to Andy in April of last year about the dog and said, “I’ve left Graham in the past now. Beautiful times, but he’s gone, and that’s just what it is.”

James had this to say, “There is no word to really explain how much I missed him and love him. Like he really is just like my best friend, and he was the missing puzzle piece.”

He also discussed the reasoning for changing the dog’s name. He said, “When I say Graham Cracker, it just doesn’t even feel; it feels like a thing of the past already. It doesn’t feel right, and it brings back, like, just like old memories that [I] don’t really need to be reminded of every single day. Right? Like that was the first time I thought about it today.”

He continued, “The new house, the new garden, the new rules, and the new, you know, environment with the name change right off the bat was actually an easier change than one would think.”

Vanderpump Rules season 11 premieres Tuesday, January 30, at 8/7c on Bravo.