Lisa Vanderpump is taking a break from the Vanderpump Rules drama and headed to the French countryside in Vanderpump Villa, premiering April 1 on Hulu. In the new reality series, Lisa has hand-selected a staff to work, live, and play at Chateau Rosabelle in France.
The reality icon continues to have a hit with her Vanderpump Rules crew, but Vanderpump Villa isn’t a carbon copy whatsoever. Lisa reveals to TV Insider that her new series is “so totally different because they’re all living together. They don’t have a history. A couple of them do. There was the existing couple of relationships. But also, to add the guests and to add that layer and then to add the aesthetics, it just made it a very different experience.”
Lisa’s Vanderpump Villa staff includes mixologist Andre Mitchell, who is “pouring all the charm.” There’s also Hannah Fouch, a server who is the “fun party girl.” Lisa adds that Hannah is “emotionally connected to somebody else” on staff. “There was a few tears. There’s a lot of up and downs,” Lisa says. Executive chef Anthony Bar is the glue. Lisa admits that if “he falls apart, the whole thing will go too.”
Putting this cast together wasn’t done on a whim. “It was very, very carefully thought out. I needed some people that I knew I could really rely on,” The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star says. However, this cast also gave Lisa some trouble at times. “I think you have to manage people a lot more when you’re living with them and you can’t replace people,” she continues. “I’m not saying we didn’t, but you’ll have to see the show, too. It was quite difficult when you’ve got young people all living together.”
At the end of the day, it was “very important” to Lisa that “everybody in this group knew exactly what they were supposed to do. Whether they did it or not is another thing. But they were going to hit the ground running, so they all had to be very experienced. So it wasn’t like we were just looking for a reality cast. Everybody had to be an expert in their field. I had no time for training. We had guests coming. So, it was a unique experience for sure. And it was complicated. It was complicated. They will talk to that. They all lived in very close proximity.”
Don’t expect some of Lisa’s famous friends to be stopping by Chateau Rosabelle this season. Lisa stresses that this is not a “celebrity situation.” She adds, “It was about people’s real heartfelt stories. So we wanted the show to have a lot of heart to it. They all kind of brought something special, and it was how the staff kind of reacted with it.” Watch the full video interview above.
Vanderpump Villa, Series Premiere, April 1, Hulu