Lisa Vanderpump hits back at Teddi Mellencamp’s claim she paid Raquel Leviss to have affair

Lisa Vanderpump has hit back at Teddi Mellencamp’s claim that she paid Raquel Leviss to have an affair with Tom Sandoval to help the ratings of Vanderpump Rules. 

She tweeted: ‘Ok no …#PumpRestaurant will be open as normal…#fake-news Oh and no I didn’t pay cast members to sleep together for ratings#pumprules. they do that on their own…#fake-news Have a beautiful day everybody.

Lisa’s cheeky tweet was in response to a claim Teddi made on Melissa Gorga’s On Display podcast.

‘She probably paid Raquel to do this,’ she said in the episode that was recorded before Lisa appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on March 8 to talk about the cheating scandal.

Teddi did an impersonation of Lisa on the podcast for host Gorga and guest host Tamara Judge while predicting what the Sur restauranteur would say about the scandal.

Putting her foot down: Lisa Vanderpump (L) has hit back at Teddi Mellencamp’s (R) claim that she paid Raquel Leviss to have an affair with Tom Sandoval to help the ratings of Vanderpump Rules

Love triangle: The show has been thrown into uproar after it emerged Leviss, 28, had an affair with heartthrob Sandoval, 39, while he was still dating their co-star Madix , 37 – Sandoval, Madix  and Leviss are seen together in November 2022

‘She’s gonna say the same points that I’ve been saying, like, “Listen, Sandoval and Madix weren’t in a good place for a long time. His needs weren’t met. Sandoval and Leviss fell in love. They couldn’t help themselves.”‘ 

Teddi was full of predictions for how her former friend Lisa would act and what she would say.

She also said that the Pump Rules owner would stick up for Sandoval because Lisa ‘always takes the men’s side,’ despite the fact that he was in a 10-year long relationship with Ariana Madix while Raquel was single.

The Falling from Grace actress also said that Lisa was only invited back on Watch What Happens Live for the first time since 2018 because ‘nobody’s cared until now.’  

Tamara pointed out that the ratings for Vanderpump Rules were ‘skyrocketing’ since the scandal. 

‘Which is my point, which is exactly what Vanderpump wants,’ Teddi retorted.

And Teddi had one more prediction to deliver. 

She said that Raquel will be ‘engaged and pregnant within a year.’

One thing Teddi didn’t predict is that Pump Restaurant might not be open in its current location for long. 

Lisa and her husband Ken Todd, don’t own the location, and the landlord is currently looking for a new, long term tenant amid news that the business is being sold.

ET reported that a source revealed that the longtime West Hollywood hot spot fell on hard times during the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down restaurants for months.

However, Lisa’s other businesses, TomTom and Vanderpump Cocktail Garden — are doing very well, the source added. 

Barbed: She tweeted: ‘Ok no …#PumpRestaurant will be open as normal…#fake-news Oh and no I didn’t pay cast members to sleep together for ratings#pumprules. they do that on their own…#fake-news Have a beautiful day everybody’

In better days: Lisa and Teddi were formerly cast mates on earlier seasons of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

But Lisa countered that report too, saying, ‘We’ve been in the Pump location for 10 years, have a great relationship with the landlord, and are currently discussing resigning our lease over the next few months, but haven’t made a decision and will be open tonight, and come by and have a Pumptini,’ she says. 

‘We’re also currently expanding our empire and will be opening two more restaurants with Caesars Palace,’ she added.

And Lisa also offered a word of caution to Vanderpump Rules’ passionate fans who are out for blood and urged them to stop their ‘vigilante justice.’

‘These are people that are living their life in a public forum, which is very difficult,’ she reminded fans.