Former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, Lisa Vanderpump, leads a life full of glamour,
wealth, and success. But behind the scenes, she's endured numerous heartaches throughout
the years. Here are the details on Lisa's tragic real-life story.
Life took an especially devastating turn for Lisa when her older brother, and only sibling,
Mark Vanderpump, reportedly took his own life in 2018. The reality star discussed how she
turned to medication and therapy to work through the heartbreaking tragedy, telling Us Weekly,
"I've never taken [antidepressants] in my life, you know, I've never been to therapy
in my life, but I think slowly I'm in a lot better place than I was."
"It's hard to come to terms, you know, I don't think you kind of ever really get over it."
As for the circumstances surrounding Mark's death, Vanderpump claims it was an accident.
She said on the show,
"I know my brother well enough to know that my brother didn't mean to do this. It was
a cry for help that went horribly wrong."
Just a little over a year after Lisa's brother died, her mother, Jean Vanderpump, passed
away at 84. A source told the Daily Mail,
"This has hit Lisa very hard and she is shocked by her mother's sudden death."
Vanderpump also tweeted about the loss, writing:
"A tragic year for sure. I thank all of you for your beautiful messages and words of kindness.
Life is so fragile and I have no time for negativity."
Despite the loss, an insider told The Daily Mail that the restaurateur is primed for a
beautiful future no matter what, saying,
"[Lisa is] as strong as they come and once she has worked through her grief she will
be back running her restaurant empire, focusing on her philanthropic endeavors and filming
Vanderpump Rules."
Vanderpump was a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills veteran, having first appeared on the
show in 2010. But her reign came to an end in June 2019, when she announced her exit
after Season 9. She blamed her departure on her co-stars, telling the Daily Express:
"I was tearful most days filming Housewives last season. The whole cast ganged up on me,
and I was just weary."
"It's no fun being the recipient of everybody ganging up on you."
Vanderpump's claim backs up a source who told Page Six months earlier that she was quote
"bullied off the show." An insider added,
"[Bravo] is trying to stretch it out to make it seem like she's around. Lisa's not in it.
All the other women will talk about her in the episodes, and they'll promote [the show]
to appear as if she's in it…But she didn't film with them."
Even so, castmate Kyle Richards had a different take on the situation, telling ET,
"All I know is, you know, we've all reached out to her, we've all included her. The ball's
in her court, I guess, you know."
Vanderpump opened up about her second son Max's adoption story on Real Housewives, after
he expressed interest in finding his birth parents. The search brought up a lot of intense
emotions for the reality star, including her fears about her son's biological family, with
whom she hadn't been in contact for years. She said on Jenny McCarthy's podcast,
"My first fear when I signed up to do Housewives was maybe this family would come forward."
Admitting that she wanted to be sensitive to the possibility, she added,
"At the time I didn't know that it would be as big, the show, but what, in such public
forum, that maybe I would kind of hear from them, and I never did."
Vanderpump also noted on her Bravo blog that she was initially anxious about the search,
but that she has since found peace with all of it. She wrote,
"As an adoptive mother in his younger years, I felt threatened at the prospect of him searching
for his biological family, wondering if a bloodline might usurp his feelings of the
familial bond that we had created. But now as he is older, I feel more secure and support
his curiosity."
Any fan knows that one of Lisa's most treasured pets is a Pomeranian named Giggy, who is 9-years-old
as of late 2019. Unfortunately, Giggy suffered a major health scare in January 2018 during
a trip to Aspen. Lisa told the Daily Dish,
"Giggy actually had a real hiccup last February…He spent a lot of [that time] in [the] hospital…in
an incubator. He was on a heart monitor. We actually have a pacemaker waiting for him,
a tiny, tiny little pacemaker, if he does need it."
"He's got a very unusual situation, Giggy, that's kind of why he's such a little character."
Vanderpump admitted that she and her husband, Ken Todd, have to carefully monitor Giggy's
health going forward. She said,
"He's still a young little Gigolo, but we've just got to be careful with his little heart.
We worship him. I mean, Ken's even more obsessed than I am."
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your
favorite celebs are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so
you don't miss a single one.