Vanderpump Rules' Raquel Leviss: I Could 'Count On' James Kennedy Before Split
Looking back. Vanderpump Rules star Raquel Leviss recalled being able to “count on” James Kennedy in an emotional Instagram post on Wednesday, January 19, weeks following their split.
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“If you really knew me, you would know that public speaking is my biggest fear,” Leviss, 27, wrote while sharing a photo from her July engagement party, which was filmed for the reality series. “You’ll see me give a toast [on Season 9], which I was so terrified to do I had major writer’s block the week leading up to the party. James helped me come up with something nice to say and we wrote it down on my phone.”
Adding that she got flustered after realizing she “didn’t have an extra hand to read my notes,” Leviss said her then-fiance, 29, came to her rescue. “It might have seemed funny but James was there to support me and help me through my speech,” the former SURver wrote. “I’m tearing up writing this because although we are not together anymore, I really could count on him for moral support during challenging times like this one.”
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Leviss and Kennedy began dating in 2016 after meeting at a New Year’s Eve party, and the former pageant queen joined the cast of Vanderpump Rules shortly after. The couple announced their engagement in May 2021. “THE LOVE OF MY LIFE, said yes.
,” Kennedy wrote on Instagram at the time, adding that he was “one lucky guy.” However, the night before filming the Season 9 Vanderpump Rules reunion, the reality stars called it quits and ended their engagement after seven months.
“After these 5 wonderful years we had together, we decided we have two different goals and made the decision to call off the engagement,” Leviss wrote via Instagram in December 2021. “We love each other very much, but we aren’t in love anymore. We want nothing but the best for each other so please keep any thoughts positive. Sending Love.”
Earlier this month, the model revealed she wasn’t happy when Kennedy had a disagreement with her father over Thanksgiving in November 2021. “The future of Thanksgivings and Christmases and holidays was looking like it was going to be either James or my family,” Leviss told costar Sheana Shay on an episode of her “Scheananigans” podcast. “Especially like if we had a baby, James would make my parents out as like the not good grandparents and kind of put that in their heads. Foreseeing this future and what it was all coming down to [I realized] I don’t want that.”
Though Kennedy hasn’t publicly addressed the breakup, he did hint at life without Leviss in December 2021. “What a year it has been (to say the least),” he wrote via Instagram after filming wrapped on the Bravo series. “Today one chapter ends and a new chapter truly begins for me. Not sure what I’m going to do but I do know one thing, I will continue my journey without alcohol, I will find my true self and the music never dies.”
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The exes will also address their split during the two-part Season 9 reunion. The first installment will debut on Tuesday, January 25, at 9 p.m. ET and the second will air the following night, Wednesday, January 26, at 9 p.m. ET.
