Vanderpump Rules’ James Kennedy on What Fans Didn’t See of Tom’s Remorse, Kristen Cheating Comparisons, and Tom’s Love for Raquel, Plus Dog Update, Jax’s TV Return, and LVP Staying Close to Tom
James Kennedy opened up about what Vanderpump Rules viewers didn’t see of Tom Sandoval‘s remorse following his months-long affair with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss on Tuesday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live.
While also reacting to Sandoval, 41, comparing his affair with Kristen Doute, 40, to his relationship with Raquel, 29, commenting on Sandoval’s love for Raquel, and sharing an update on his dog Hippie, formerly known as Graham Cracker, James addressed Jax Taylor‘s TV return and noted that when it came to Sandoval’s remorse, there was plenty fans didn’t see.
“The remorse, look, I saw a lot more of him, so I’d be filming with him a lot so I’d see it,” James explained on the February 13 episode of WWHL.
That said, James also noted that at times, Sandoval seemed to always want to have the “last word.”
“He had to be like, the guy at the top of the mountain looking down on me and it’s just like, ‘Look dude, you gotta put that away before we’re gonna get past this,’” James shared.
While Sandoval has felt that James should be more understanding of his relationship with Raquel since he slept with Kristen when Sandoval was dating her, James believes the two situations were completely different.
“I’m not sure how long I knew Sandoval up until that happened but it must’ve been three to six months. Have we not been brothers for a decade of this show? This is ridiculous!” he exclaimed.
During Tuesday’s episode of Pump Rules, Sandoval admitted he was still in love with Raquel. And, while James felt the scene was awkward, he believed Sandoval meant what he said.
“It was pretty cringe to watch. When I first heard it, it’s like, I didn’t know where the episode was going and as the episode went on it kind of made more sense,” he noted. “That’s kind of why I agreed with the remorse thing with Tom. But I want to keep watching. I don’t want to give him too much credit yet because you know how he can be a kind of magician in some ways so I want to see how it plays out.”
“Tom was trying for a long time to get back into it with her. Some of the people think it was just to get her back on the show and I don’t really know because I wasn’t friends with Tom at this point so I wasn’t in his life and I didn’t know where his head was at but watching it back, I did believe when he said he loved her and he did want to talk to her,” James continued. “He was not drinking because of that but look, I’m not giving the guy too much credit here because I love [Ariana Madix] and I’m still 100 percent on her side with everything.”
When James was then asked how he felt about Raquel having a podcast, he replied, “Everyone’s entitled to have a bloody podcast, except me. And I will not be having a bloody podcast.”
As for their formerly shared dog, James confirmed he’s doing “amazing.”
“Hippie Dee Doo-ddah. He doesn’t even remember G.C. We don’t even say that word out loud in the house. It’s Hippie. We have songs for him. We sing songs to him. He’s great,” James gushed.
Later, on the WWHL: After Show, James revealed where he stands with Jax, 44, as he reacted to his upcoming role on The Valley.
“It’s good. I’m excited for him,” James said. “He seems like, stoked. And our relationship is good. We’re both Valley boys now. He lives 10 minutes away, Jaxy boy. I’m happy for him. It’s great.”
As Pump Rules fans surely saw, James debuted his new home in The Valley, which he shares with his girlfriend, Ally Lewber, 28, on the premiere episode last month. And, while the house is quite nice, producers honed in on its closeness to the Burbank airport.
“I mean, look. It’s like 10 minutes away,” James explained. “You can hear them but we’re honestly used to it. It doesn’t really phase us. If you come over, you’ll probably hear a plane or two.”
When asked if he heard from Ariana after peeing on her bush, James admitted to confiding in her immediately.
“I think I told her out of nerves like, that week. I was like ‘By the way I peed outside on the bush. Are you mad?’” he recalled.
Back on the live broadcast, James reacted to Lisa Vanderpump, 63, staying close to Sandoval after his affair.
“Lisa doesn’t give up when someone’s down, doesn’t want to push someone when someone’s down and Tom was going through a really hard time,” he reasoned. “Lisa’s always been the boss in the group, she’s always looked out for all of us so she stepped in when she had to with Tom and wanted to make sure he was okay. I thought that was great.”
As for Tom Schwartz, 40, and Sandoval making amends, James said that despite comments he made on the premiere episode, he believes they are a good pair.
“Even though I said Schwartz was a better Tom without TomTom, I still think they’re like a match made in heaven,” he said.
Also on the show, when asked if Schwartz and Ariana will ever be friends again, James admitted, “I think so. There’s room.”
Vanderpump Rules season 11 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.
