Everything Raquel and James Have Said About Their Breakup on ‘Pump Rules’

Season 10 of Vanderpump Rules will not only follow the aftermath of Katie Maloney And by Tom Schwartz divide. Rachel Leviss And James Kennedy also called it quits between seasons and doesn’t hold back about what happened during their five-year relationship.

In the February 2023 premiere, the DJ and Lala knows drops a bombshell they hooked up during the early stages of his relationship with Raquel and her romance with now-ex Randall Emmett.

“James and I — when we were both very new to our relationships — definitely connected,” Lala said. “We went to Chicago [in 2016] and we started drinking before we got on the plane. That’s why he said I’m more likely to do handstands – I definitely do handstands.

James, who admitted he was “nervous” to admit what happened after years of downplaying, noted that “a lot of guys make mistakes”.

“Obviously half of Lala wanted it to happen too, so let’s not hesitate,” he said in a confessional. She probably had big f-king plans to get that fat f-king stone on her finger — which she did. So she probably wanted to close the deal with JK sooner. Who not?”

The “Topman” musician got serious about Raquel and proposed in May 2021. Ally Lewber six weeks later.

“James likes a bitch with thin lips. First Raquel and now Ally,” Lala joked on the show. “Even I was a thin-lipped bitch when we started fucking.”

Having a new girlfriend wasn’t the only change James made after his broken engagement.

“After not drinking a single drop for two and a half years, I decided to start drinking again. Have a few drinks. After Raquel left, I thought [about how] I was getting married and everything I did to better myself was clearly not enough,” he explained at the premiere. “And honestly, it was a new year. It was 2022 and what am I doing? I’m James Kennedy. Let me live.”

He added that if he “stopped again” it would be “for me and not an ultimatum in a relationship”.

Raquel, for her part, has been linked to several men in the post-James series. Besides casual dating Peter Madrigal – to whom she called a “man” and not a “man child” like James – she made out with Tom and SUR employee Oliver Saunders (son of Garcelle Beauvais) during the production of Season 10.

Vanderpump Rules airs Wednesdays Bravo at 9 p.m. ET. Scroll through for more from Raquel and James: