What happens at SUR, does not stay at SUR. When viewers were introduced to staff at Lisa Vanderpump‘s restaurant during Vanderpump Rules‘ 2013 premiere, it was clear everyone was intertwined in one another’s love lives.
From Stassi Schroeder‘s rocky relationship with Jax Taylor, which took a turn when he hooked up with her best friend Kristen Doute, to Peter Madrigal’s casual connections to several of the waitresses, including Katie Maloney, nothing was off-limits on screen.
Fans were in for a surprise when Lala Kent, who joined the Bravo series in 2014, chose not to share as many details about her love life with the camera. Ahead of filming season 5, the Give Them Lala author started seeing Randall Emmett, but they kept their relationship quiet for two years before going public in 2017.
The duo, who have since gotten engaged and welcomed daughter Ocean in March 2021, later opened up about why Kent had to keep their romance private when they first got together.
“I begged him first of all, like, ‘Please, people have to see our relationship is real life!’” the singer explained to Entertainment Tonight in February 2020 ahead of the director’s debut on the Bravo series.
Emmett, for his part, admitted that he “should have done it a long time ago” when it came to appearing on the show.
“For years, she asked and it just got to a point where the things being said about me weren’t that nice, and about our relationship, weren’t that nice, the way things were coming across and we were like, ‘OK, let’s try it out,’” he noted. “I wouldn’t see her all summer, you know, she’d always be gone, so it was nice to hang out and spend time with her and do a little bit of this.”
Kent also shared how it felt not being able to say Emmett’s name on the show.
“I was so sick of calling him ‘my man,’ and then people started making fun of me for it,” she added. “I was like, ‘You gotta take it up with my man, ’cause he’s the one that chooses to be nameless and faceless.’”
The Midnight in the Switchgrass producer, who was previously married to Ambyr Childers, explained that he didn’t think anyone was invested in knowing his identity.
“When I started dating Lala, I never thought anybody would have any interest in me. I just thought, ‘OK, I’m dating. I fell in love with her,’” he said at the time. “I didn’t think anybody cared about me. So, as it became this thing, it was worse that I was ‘no name.’”
Since going public with their relationship on Vanderpump Rules, the duo made headlines in October 2021 when the reality star erased all traces of her fiancé on social media. As rumors swirled about Emmett possibly cheated on the performer, Kent was spotted multiple times without her engagement ring. Us Weekly later confirmed their split.
“Randall did not want to split but it was Lala’s decision,” a source exclusively told Us in November 2021. “The trust is gone. He’s been trying to win her back.”
Kent first addressed the cheating rumors in a December 2021 episode of her “Give Them Lala” podcast. “I found out about the pictures of his name we shall not mention and the Nashville girls,” she told listeners at the time. “[And] I decided on October 20th, the day of my book signing, that I was going to change my tattoo from [‘Rand’] to ‘bRand new.’”
She didn’t get into the specifics of their breakup, but she made it clear that she felt their relationship had to end. “The second that I felt unsafe — I said this in therapy — I said, ‘The second I get a pit in my stomach, it’ll be a different conversation,’” she noted. “I got that pit and I got the f–k out. No questions asked. ‘Buh-bye.’”
Scroll down for a complete guide to the cast of Vanderpump Rules’ relationships: