

The Queen of Diamonds has left the building (better described as a palatial mansion). The news of Lisa Vanderpump’s exit from the Housewives serves as the conclusion of escalating tensions between the restaurateur and her castmates over the last year in the gossip cycle. The saga included: Puppygate, Lisa Rinna threatening her co-star with a lawsuit, Rinna’s full frontal assault in the press, and Vanderpump’s absence at Andy Cohen’s baby shower. According to an exclusive report in Us Weekly this morning:
The reality star simply answered “yes,” when Us asked if it’s the end for her on the series at the 7th Annual Real to Reel: Portrayals and Perceptions of LGBT’s in Hollywood. She continued, “I made the decision to leave. It was a very difficult year for me, personally and professionally. I had wonderful things happen this year, opening up TomTom and the cocktail garden in Vegas. The Housewives, it’s just, it’s emotionally too difficult to deal with.”
What’s fascinating about this story, and perhaps a perfect conclusion to her time on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: Radar Online was the first to definitively report on her pending exit. Last November, she denied her departure to Us Weekly, but seemed to allude to her decision at the May 9th opening of the Vanderpump Cocktail Garden in Las Vegas. Speaking to Daily Mail:
Unfortunately when I was filming last year I was not in a good place myself mentally. So I was not as ready to take on maybe what Housewives entailed. I just floundered. I opened TomTom, I brought that to fruition, I was working hard on this. We were working hard with our philanthropy with our dogs. We are opening a sanctuary in China. We had a lot of things going on. […] I lost my only sibling, I was doing Vanderpump Rules – I am an EP on that. There was a lot going on. And all this stuff, I think it was unfair. And it kept coming at me. It just became too much really. After 380 episodes sometimes you have got to say okay enough. […] Being a restaurateur, businesswoman and philanthropist is paramount to me. So I will continue to do that after Housewives because that is what I do.
Despite my complicated feelings about her place in Bravo’s flagship franchise, I do think it’s clear that this is the best decision for her grieving process. I hope that she can reflect on what made her a magnetic presence that helmed two of the most instantly recognizable shows in American reality television. While you should never quit a hit show thinking you’ll find love and success elsewhere- I’m sure this particular rich person will be absolutely fine.