Lisa Vanderpump Confronts James Kennedy About His Drinking Habits On ‘Vanderpump Rules’

James Kennedy will be seen making his triumphant return to Vanderpump Rules during the February 11 episode of the Bravo reality series but unfortunately, Lisa Vanderpump isn’t quick to welcome him back into the tight-knit circle of her restaurants.

In a sneak peek at next week’s show posted to BravoTV‘s website, Kennedy sat down with Vanderpump to offer her thanks for allowing him to DJ at TomTom during Los Angeles’ Pride Week Parade. However, as Vanderpump quickly informed her former employee, it was not she who decided upon his return.

As their conversation continued, Vanderpump questioned Kennedy about his drinking habits as he confirmed he did not drink on the day of the event and insisted he did a great job DJing at her West Hollywood restaurant.

“But it’s about longevity isn’t it, James?” Vanderpump wondered.

According to Kennedy, he’s trying to get and keep his act together and hoped to have a different kind of conversation with Vanderpump after the event. As he explained in a cast confessional, he felt he “killed” his performance.

As the Vanderpump Rules preview clip continued, Vanderpump admitted that Kennedy did a good job at TomTom before telling him that she isn’t interested in his ability to do one job. Instead, she’s interested in his welfare.

While Kennedy hadn’t yet gotten sober at the time the episode was filmed, he did achieve sobriety during production on Vanderpump Rules Season 8 and has remained so ever since.

As The Inquisitr previously reported, Scheana Shay opened up about Kennedy’s sobriety in September of last year during an interview with In Touch Weekly and revealed that he was 11 weeks sober at the time.

According to Shay, Kennedy began going to meetings last summer after getting fired from his job at SUR Restaurant during Season 7.

“I’m really proud of him, but that was a very good surprise because after years of taking a week off or two weeks off and then going crazy again, like he’s really taking his sobriety seriously this time,” she explained. “It’s just like the best parts of James are all the time now.”

Although Vanderpump was noticeably hesitant to think that Kennedy had truly changed for the better — and for good — in the sneak peek, Shay confirmed to In Touch Weekly that Kennedy had truly turned over a new leaf in his life last year.

“He sees how well he’s doing without it and it’s just a different outlook on life.”