Lisa Vanderpump reveals she was in talks with Rachel Leviss over possible Vanderpump Rules return – before she decided against it

Lisa Vanderpump has revealed that she was in talks with Rachel Leviss about a possible return to the Vanderpump Rules.

Executive producer and star Lisa, 62, revealed that Rachel, 28, initially wanted to make a comeback on the show after checking out of the mental health facility where she spent time following her cheating scandal with co-star Tom Sandoval, but it was eventually agreed that she would not return.

Speak against TMZ, Lisa explained, “While she was in the facility, her team texted and emailed us. We wanted to make sure she was in a good place first. I went one-on-one with her.

“She talked about coming back, the team got in touch, but I think in the end she decided not to. The cast doesn’t really believe what she’s saying, so there’s no point she (comes back).

“I talked to her and we talked about doing a one-on-one. I wanted to talk about her growth and her thoughts after being in the facility.”

When asked why she didn’t come back, Lisa said, “Oh, I don’t know. I really don’t understand what she’s doing.’

Lisa was also asked what she thinks of people saying the show won’t be successful without Rachel and she laughed and replied, “It was successful for her.”

During a recent appearance on Bethenny Frankel’s podcast, Rachel claimed that Tom, 41, had been offered a producer role on the show, but Lisa denied it.

Lisa said, “That’s hilarious, no. He’s not going to be a producer. I’m an executive producer and creator of the show and I’ve never heard that before, but I don’t really understand what she’s saying or doing. Why is she saying something, I have no idea.’

Rachel had a months-long fling with Tom, who had been dating her boyfriend Ariana Madix, 38, for nine years.

The affair was revealed during season 10 of the show and season 11 has now started filming without Rachel.

After hinting at a departure during her recent tell-all with Bethenny, it now appears that Rachel won’t be returning for season 11 of Vanderpump Rules.

Entertainment tonight reported that Rachel has “decided” not to appear in the next season.

The insider explained that Rachel was concerned that a potential return would negatively impact any progress she’s made on her mental health over the past year.

Rachel is not returning for Vanderpump Rules Season 11. There was the possibility until recently that she would return for the new season, but in the end she decided not to,” a source told the site.

Rachel is focused on her mental health journey and knew a return to the show would expose her to a trauma she has been working to heal. Rachel looks forward to what the future holds for her.”

She seemingly confirmed she had no plans to return to the show during her telling talk with Bethenny.

“I feel like I’ve been portrayed as the ultimate villain. My mistakes I made in front of the camera live on forever. And you said something about the addiction of doing reality TV and the way they always dangle that carrot in front of you, like, “Well, you have to tell your side of the story or it will be written for you.”

And that’s frightening. So I almost went back, I only know because of that.’

She didn’t elaborate on what she meant by “almost moved back,” but the star has remained in her home state of Arizona — while filming for season 11 of the hugely popular Bravo reality series has been underway since late June.

Smiling Rachel looked healthy and cheerful after recently checking herself into a mental health facility after facing the wrath of her co-stars during the show’s three-part reunion taped in March.

She has since checked out of the facility in mid-July and is reportedly staying with relatives in Arizona.

The Bravo star told Bethenny why she chose to step back, it was chaos. But I’ve taken some time to myself to think and try to understand my actions. And I finally got to the place where it makes sense to me.

“Part of the reason I wanted to get away from it all is just because it was so chaotic and noisy, and there was so much vitriol online.”

The reality star went on to explain that she chose to spend time in a treatment center in an effort to “understand my behavior.”

She stated, “But the other part of why I wanted to go to a treatment center was to understand my behavior and my goal was to really get to the bottom of it, ‘Okay, why am I picking men who aren’t available?’ why do I keep ending up in unhealthy relationships, what should I change about my behavior.’

“And because I knew I had to change something, I first needed to know what led to that behavior.”

Bethenny explained that she had felt sympathy for Rachel when she witnessed the Scandoval backlash, stating that she felt the star’s life was being “exploited” without compensation.

The former RHONY star stated, “(The backlash) seemed disproportionate to me. I watched clips on social media and heard about this Scandoval – which was named, marketed and pumped through the PR machine. And I did say… ‘Everyone will become more famous than before because of this.’

And my thoughts were, ‘They’re on a reality show. It takes place in a bar, is what I think. It’s fueled by alcohol and partying and multiple affairs. So what about respect, what the hell is the problem everyone is talking about?’ … And I only mentioned your name as an example of what I imagined as someone who had been exploited. And for the rest of your life that content will be there without compensation.’

Grateful Rachel responded, “It’s so nice to have you validate that experience because for a second I thought I was going crazy. And it’s true, reality TV is edited, it’s conceived to create a certain storyline. So it’s not all factual.

“As a viewer who tunes in, you can easily get caught up in that. Then the concept of an affair hits a lot of people very hard. So I think there was a lot of projection going on, a lot of emotions coming up in people, and unfortunately I was the punching bag for a lot of that.”

The TV star made it clear she understood why there was so much anger from her co-stars and viewers alike, continuing, “However, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the pain I have caused a lot of people. I was not careful in my actions and I was not thinking long term. I was all wrapped up in heartbreak and wanted certain needs met.”

Reflecting on the true reason for her behavior, she claimed, “Looking back now, I can see that I was still healing from being in a relationship with someone I thought I was going to marry. And to put an end to that, I’m still not cured.’

Rachel then confirmed that she had turned to alcohol to try and get through the hard time, something she felt was not the best solution to her problem.

“When I was filming I drank a lot to help reduce that anxiety and being in a reality TV environment didn’t give me that safe space to express my emotions in a healthy way.”

When Bethenny stated that viewers – and Bravo producer Andy Cohen – had no real understanding of what it feels like to be part of a major reality show scandal that continues to produce unrealistic scenarios, Rachel agreed.

The reality star then breathed an audible sigh of relief when she got the chance to share her side of the story, telling Bethenny, “It feels like I have this opportunity to share how much I’ve grown and how hard I’m trying.” to be a better person.

“That person I saw looking back on my TV is someone completely different from who I really am. I feel like being given this opportunity to represent myself in a way that I feel is true to who I am is all I could ever ask for.”

The star took the time to explain her name changes, as she said, “I changed my name to Raquel in first grade, there were a few other Rachel’s in my class and I wanted to be special. I also feel that deep down I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin and that I wanted to be someone else – in my eyes.’

She claimed that changing the name allowed her to “be that person,” but confirmed that her family always referred to her as “Rachel.”

Rachel explained that her therapist had told her she was Rachel “at heart,” but put up a wall by being called Raquel.

The star explained that this personality may have manifested because of her longtime struggles with “social anxiety” and being judged by other people.

She explained that she now introduces herself by her birth name as a way to get back to her roots.