James Kennedy and Ally Lewber are having a blast as a household of 5 (which incorporates three fur infants).
Throughout an unique interview with Us Weekly at BravoCon on Saturday, November 4, James, 31, and Ally, 27, mentioned how canine Hippie has adjusted to dwelling with them and their two cats.
“[He is] so good. He’s superb,” James gushed earlier than Ally added, “He’s so nice. I really like him. He’s so pleased and now we have a yard. He’s been a terrific boy.”
After adopting the canine earlier this summer time, James confirmed to Us that he hasn’t had any contact with ex Raquel Leviss, who was Hippie’s earlier proprietor.
Vanderpump Guidelines viewers had been launched to Hippie when he was nonetheless referred to as Graham Cracker. Throughout James and Raquel’s relationship, the previous magnificence pageant queen, 29, obtained the pet as a present from her mother and father. Raquel initially remained Graham’s major guardian after ending her engagement to James in late 2021.
Earlier this yr, Raquel made headlines for having an affair with costar Tom Sandoval, which ended his almost decade-long romance with Ariana Madix. Raquel checked herself right into a psychological well being facility within the aftermath of the drama. Whereas followers assumed that Raquel’s canine was in her household’s possession amid her 90-day keep, James later revealed he was taking care of Graham now.
“Look who made his manner again residence, again into my life. I’ll care for you without end, and I really like you,” James captioned a July Instagram photograph of him filming season 11 along with his canine, who he later renamed Hippie.
Lisa Vanderpump claimed on the time that her Vanderpump Canine Rescue group obtained phrase that the canine was in a rescue heart, which is how James was in a position to achieve custody. Raquel’s mom, Laura, nevertheless, clarified that an incident led to the choice to give up Graham to trainers at California Doodle Rescue. They later contacted Lisa, 63, with out Laura’s data or approval.
One month later, Raquel provided her aspect of the story about what led to Graham getting rehomed.
“There’s much more to this story, however Graham, my gosh. He has a historical past of aggression and he’s bitten me actually arduous. I already was contemplating getting a foster household whereas going into [the mental health facility] the Meadows and attempting it out,” she mentioned on Bethenny Frankel‘s iHeartRadio’s “ReWives” podcast in August.
Raquel claimed there was “a motive why” she didn’t need James to take care of the canine, including, “He doesn’t have canine expertise and he’s a part of the rationale why Graham is a biter. James would encourage Graham to chew his palms arduous, and he appreciated that sensation, so in fact that skilled Graham to be a biter.”
In line with Raquel, the selection to seek out Graham a brand new residence got here after she exhausted different choices.
“My canine Graham bit my mother’s hand right down to the bone, and it was so unhealthy she couldn’t even get stitches. I had the choice to both depart the Meadows and return and care for my canine, or attempt to get him rehomed and end out my therapy, as a result of I knew I had extra to work on,” she continued. “So I selected myself and we researched a breed-specific canine rescue, and so they took him in moreover his biting habits. Backside line, he couldn’t get rehomed.”
The previous actuality star, who has since introduced her departure from Vanderpump Guidelines, was stunned to listen to Lisa obtained concerned with rehoming Graham.
“It was alleged to be a confidential, nameless [decision] as a result of it’s no person else’s enterprise,” she added on the time. “I believed it was a joke at first [when I saw Graham with James]. My coronary heart dropped to my abdomen. There was an image of James strolling Graham, and I used to be like, ‘No.’ Instantly, my mother referred to as the foster who was working with Graham, and she or he mentioned, ‘Oh, it’s so beautiful. Lisa adopted him.’ So now the narrative is, I dumped my canine at a shelter and he was hours away from being euthanized and that’s not true.”
Though Raquel has taken a step again from filming, James has loved being within the highlight after filming season 11.
“The vibe was fairly intense after [our Vanderpump Rules panel]. I don’t suppose Sandoval had an excessive amount of enjoyable up there. I used to be having a good time,” James joked with Us after becoming a member of his costars onstage at BravoCon on Friday, November 3. “However yeah, it was an intense panel. … However all of us obtained by means of it and I did suppose there have been some humorous elements.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi