Lisa Vanderpump

Lisa Vanderpump
Born	Lisa Jane Vanderpump 9/15/1960
Birthplace	Dulwich, London, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Businesswoman, television personality, restaurateur
Known for	The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Vanderpump Rules
Education	Corona Academy
Spouse(s)	Ken Todd
Children	2
Website	http://www.veryvanderpump.com/

Lisa Jane Vanderpump (born 15 September 1960) is an English businesswoman, restaurateur, and television personality who rose to prominence as a main cast member on the Bravo reality series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills from 2010 to 2019. Over a career spanning more than five decades — beginning with acting work as a child in the 1970s — Vanderpump built a public profile that bridges the worlds of hospitality, entertainment, and animal welfare advocacy. Together with her husband, Ken Todd, she has owned and operated numerous restaurants, bars, and clubs in both the United Kingdom and the United States, including the West Hollywood establishments SUR Restaurant & Lounge, Villa Blanca, and TomTom. Her television career expanded significantly with Vanderpump Rules, which premiered on Bravo in 2013 as the first spinoff of the Real Housewives franchise and on which she serves as both a cast member and executive producer. Beyond television, Vanderpump has pursued ventures in home décor, publishing, and philanthropy, with a particular focus on dog rescue through her nonprofit organization, Vanderpump Dogs.

Early Life

Lisa Jane Vanderpump was born on 15 September 1960 in Dulwich, a residential area in South London, England. She began performing at a young age, entering the entertainment industry as a child actress in 1973. Her early career in the performing arts provided a foundation for the media career she would later develop in the United States.

Vanderpump attended the Corona Academy, a performing arts school in London that trained young people for careers in the entertainment industry. Her enrollment at the school reflected her early commitment to a career in the arts and performance, and the training she received there informed both her acting work during her youth and her comfort in front of cameras that would prove central to her later television career.

Details about Vanderpump's family life during her childhood in London remain limited in public sources. What is documented is that she was active in the British entertainment scene from her teenage years onward, accumulating professional experience in acting and performance before transitioning toward the hospitality and business ventures that would eventually define her career.

Education

Vanderpump was educated at the Corona Academy in London, a school known for training young performers for careers in theatre, film, and television. The academy provided her with a grounding in the performing arts during her formative years, and her attendance there coincided with her early professional work as a child actress beginning in 1973.

Career

Early Acting Career

Before becoming known as a reality television personality and businesswoman, Vanderpump had a career as an actress in the United Kingdom. She began working professionally in entertainment in 1973, at approximately thirteen years of age, and continued acting through the following years. Her early work in British entertainment predated her move to the United States and her entry into the hospitality industry by many years. While the specifics of her early acting credits are not extensively documented in major sources, Bravo has acknowledged her pre-Housewives acting career as a notable aspect of her background.

Restaurant and Hospitality Ventures

Vanderpump and her husband, Ken Todd, built a portfolio of restaurants, bars, and clubs across the United Kingdom and the United States over several decades. Their British ventures included multiple establishments before the couple relocated to the United States.

In the United States, the couple became particularly associated with the West Hollywood dining scene. Their most notable American establishments include SUR Restaurant & Lounge, a restaurant and lounge whose name is an acronym for "Sexy Unique Restaurant." SUR became central to Vanderpump's television career, serving as the primary setting for Vanderpump Rules. They also operated Villa Blanca, a restaurant in Beverly Hills, and TomTom, a bar and restaurant in West Hollywood.

In 2015, Vanderpump opened Lisa Vanderpump's Stonebaked Pizzeria in partnership with comedian Jim Stylus. The venture reflected her ongoing interest in expanding her hospitality footprint across different dining concepts.

Vanderpump's business ventures extended to Las Vegas, where she opened the Vanderpump Cocktail Garden at Caesars Palace. By 2026, she was preparing to open her first hotel property in Las Vegas, marking her entry into the lodging sector of the hospitality industry.

In a 2023 interview with Forbes, Vanderpump discussed her approach to business, including the experience of being her own boss and her expanding portfolio of ventures.

Home Décor and Lifestyle Ventures

Beyond the restaurant industry, Vanderpump pursued ventures in interior design and home décor. In 2014, she unveiled a housewares collection, expanding her brand into the consumer products space. She also launched a lighting collection in partnership with Nick Alain, a design collaboration that reflected her interest in interior aesthetics and her established personal brand centered on glamour and opulence.

Vanderpump also served as editor-in-chief of Beverly Hills Lifestyle Magazine, a role she eventually resigned from as her other business and television commitments grew.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (2010–2019)

Vanderpump gained widespread public recognition as a main cast member on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (RHOBH), a Bravo reality television series that premiered in 2010. She appeared on the show for its first nine seasons, from 2010 until 2019, becoming one of the franchise's most recognizable figures. Her presence on the show was characterized by her Beverly Hills lifestyle, her British accent and mannerisms, her collection of small dogs, and her role as a restaurateur.

During her tenure on RHOBH, Vanderpump's relationships with her co-stars were a frequent source of storylines. Her departure from the show after Season 9 was preceded by conflicts with several other cast members. Years after leaving the show, Vanderpump addressed her relationships with former co-stars, including revealing in 2026 where she stood with Garcelle Beauvais, one of the cast members who joined the show after Vanderpump's departure. Vanderpump indicated that she maintained some connections with members of the RHOBH cast. Beauvais attended the opening of Vanderpump à Paris, further indicating an amicable relationship between the two.

Vanderpump Rules (2013–present)

In 2013, Bravo launched Vanderpump Rules, a reality series set at SUR Restaurant and focused on the lives of its staff. The show represented a significant milestone in reality television as the first spinoff of the Real Housewives franchise. Vanderpump served as both a cast member and an executive producer on the series, occupying a dual role that gave her both on-screen presence and behind-the-scenes creative involvement.

The show became one of Bravo's most prominent series, following the personal and professional lives of the young staff at SUR while Vanderpump maintained her role as the restaurant's owner and a maternal figure to many of the cast members. Vanderpump Rules continued into its twelfth season, which aired in 2025–2026 and introduced a new cast of SUR employees.

At the Season 12 reunion, hosted by Andy Cohen, Vanderpump was noted for an emotional moment with cast member Shayne Davis that moved her to tears. Cohen also highlighted how Vanderpump had "demoted" a SUR employee at the reunion, something he indicated had not happened before in the show's history.

The series attracted significant media and cultural attention. PAPER Magazine described the Season 12 reunion as a landmark event for the show, covering the fashion and cultural dimensions of the Bravo franchise's influence.

Other Television Appearances and Productions

Vanderpump expanded her television portfolio beyond the Real Housewives and Vanderpump Rules franchises. In 2013, she competed on Season 16 of Dancing with the Stars, the ABC dance competition series, where she was eventually eliminated.

In 2021, Vanderpump starred in Overserved with Lisa Vanderpump, a series on E! in which she hosted celebrity dinner parties. That same year, she appeared in Vanderpump Dogs, a series on Peacock that focused on her dog rescue foundation.

In 2023, Variety reported that Hulu had ordered Vanderpump Villa, a new reality series featuring Vanderpump. The show launched on Hulu in 2024, further expanding Vanderpump's reality television empire across multiple networks and streaming platforms.

In 2026, Vanderpump appeared on the SiriusXM podcast Boyfriend Material, hosted by Harry Jowsey, where she discussed the making of her reality television career and the new cast of Vanderpump Rules.

Personal Life

Vanderpump is married to Ken Todd, a British businessman. The couple has worked together extensively across their hospitality ventures, co-owning and co-operating their portfolio of restaurants and clubs. They reside in Beverly Hills, California, having relocated from the United Kingdom.

Vanderpump has two children. Her daughter, Pandora Vanderpump Sabo, is married to Jason Sabo. In January 2026, Jason Sabo made a rare public comment about their marriage. In 2015, Pandora celebrated her 35th birthday, an event that was documented by Bravo. Vanderpump also has a son, whom she has discussed adopting publicly.

In September 2020, Vanderpump celebrated her 60th birthday, an event that was covered by media outlets and featured on Bravo's platforms.

In January 2026, Vanderpump drew media attention after publicly criticizing American Airlines on social media following a travel disruption. She reported being removed from three airplanes during an incident at Miami International Airport, saying she was "about to lose my mind."

Vanderpump is known for her love of dogs, particularly small breeds, and keeps multiple dogs at her home. This personal interest has directly informed her philanthropic work through Vanderpump Dogs.

Philanthropy and Animal Advocacy

Vanderpump has been involved in animal welfare work, particularly focused on dog rescue and advocacy against the dog meat trade. She founded the Vanderpump Dogs Foundation, a nonprofit rescue organization based in Los Angeles. The foundation operates a rescue center and works to find homes for dogs.

A significant component of Vanderpump's animal advocacy has been her campaign against the Yulin Dog Meat Festival in China. Through the Vanderpump Dogs organization, she has promoted the "Stop Yulin Forever" march, an initiative seeking to end the annual festival and the broader dog meat trade. When progress was made toward banning the dog meat trade, Vanderpump publicly celebrated the development.

The Vanderpump Dogs Foundation was the subject of the Peacock series Vanderpump Dogs in 2021, which brought additional attention to the organization's rescue work and advocacy efforts.

Legacy

Vanderpump's career in reality television has spanned more than fifteen years across multiple networks and streaming platforms, making her one of the most enduring figures in the reality television genre. Her role in launching Vanderpump Rules in 2013 was notable for establishing the first spinoff of the Real Housewives franchise, a model that Bravo subsequently replicated with other series. The show's longevity — reaching its twelfth season by 2026 — reflects both the audience's sustained interest and Vanderpump's ongoing centrality to the program as executive producer and cast member.

In the hospitality industry, Vanderpump and Ken Todd built a business portfolio that spans restaurants, bars, cocktail lounges, and a forthcoming hotel, with properties in both the United States and previously in the United Kingdom. The SUR Restaurant became particularly well known due to its association with Vanderpump Rules, becoming a tourist attraction and cultural touchstone for fans of the show.

Her philanthropy through the Vanderpump Dogs Foundation connected her celebrity status to animal welfare causes, and her advocacy against the Yulin Dog Meat Festival brought the issue to a broader audience through her media platforms.

In her 2023 Forbes interview, Vanderpump reflected on her business philosophy and the evolution of reality television, discussing her experience navigating multiple industries simultaneously.