Sam Vanderpump has detailed his ultra-close relationship with famous aunt Lisa Vanderpump, who is known for being a legendary personality on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Made In Chelsea star Sam, who has exclusively told us he is engaged to model Alice Yaxley, also shared with Mirror that ever since losing his dad in 2018, Lisa has become a key parental figure in his life.
“Since my dad passed away, Lisa really has been like a father figure to me – which sounds very strange to say,” Sam explained.
He continued: “I’m not sure she’ll appreciate the manly comparison, but she sees me as a son in that sense, and has always taken that role of authority in my life, making sure I’m making all the right decisions. She gives me direction when it comes to reality TV and business alongside my personal life.”
Sam is engaged to partner Alice after a whirlwind six month romance, with the lead-up to his engagement set to play out on-screen on Made In Chelsea over the coming months.
Assuring us that Alice has got the seal of approval from Lisa too, Sam says, “I was scared to tell her, because I always want to impress and please her and I was worried she would say we hadn’t been together long enough. But she was so supportive and said if I was happy, then it was great.
“She’s met Alice on FaceTime but we’re going to the US to meet properly in April.” Lisa later said, “I am extremely happy and very proud. Sam is like a son to me, and I am so excited there will be another Vanderpump – and hopefully soon lots more new little Vanderpumps.”
Sam suffered a health scare earlier this year which left him hospitalised and fearing for his life, and he says it’s this that led him to realise Alice is ‘The One’, despite having only been together for a short time frame.
“Alice and I have only been dating for about six months, but we’ve gone through such a lot in such a short period of time. From day dot, Alice has been with me pretty much 24/7. And over Christmas we went through a bit of an episode together where I got really, really ill,” he said.
Explaining his sudden deterioration, Sam adds, “I got an infection due to a genetic disease I’ve got, which led to sepsis and it ended up quite bad. I was in hospital and it was a close call, I could have died.”
He shared: “That experience brought us very, very close. I think I walked out of that looking at Alice and thinking, ‘This is the girl I want to marry.’ So, my thinking was, ‘If I’m saying that now, why on earth am I waiting?’”
After deciding to pop the question, Sam wasted no time in getting the approval of 23-year-old Alice’s family and enlisting his Made In Chelsea co-stars to assist him with the grand proposal – in scenes that will play out on screen.
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