What to Know About James Kennedy's Family and Where His Name Comes From
The Vanderpump Rules DJ's parents and brothers have all appeared on the show, but there's a lot more to know.
Entertainment runs in James Kennedy's blood: The Britain-born Vanderpump Rules DJ's mom, Jacqueline Georgiou, worked as a model and an actress. His father, Andros Georgiou, was a music producer who toured with George Michael. James' parents have appeared briefly on Vanderpump Rules, but there's a lot more to know about the See You Next Tuesday DJ's family, including his two brothers, Harry and Dylan.
Read on for more info about James' family and life before and during Vanderpump Rules.
Who is James Kennedy’s mom, Jacqueline Georgiou?
Before she appeared on Vanderpump Rules, James’ mother was working as a model and actress, Monsters and Critics reports. According to her IMDB page, she had minor roles in Ray Donovan (2013) and Call Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013).
On Vanderpump Rules, James and Jacqueline have both been open about Jacqueline’s struggles with alcohol. In March 2020, James stopped by The Daily Dish podcast to give an update on his mother’s sobriety journey.
"My mom’s really good," James said at the time. "She’s still sober. So she has now over a year under the belt, and our relationship is at a high, you know? She texts me every day, we talk every day, we live 10 minutes away from each other, so I like to see her. I treat her for lunch a couple times a week. So, we stay close and our relationship has gone leaps and bounds since I stopped drinking as well, because now that we’re both sober, we’re both counting the blessings together every day and it’s just such a beautiful thing, you know?"
How does Lisa Vanderpump know James Kennedy’s mom, Jacqueline Georgiou?
In January 2019, Lisa shared exactly how she knew James’ parents in an interview with interview with The Daily Dish podcast. She also cleared up a misconception that they were close friends.
"Well, we're not that close," Lisa clarified. "It sometimes appears [that way] because of his perception a little bit."
"I met James' parents through Bruno Tonioli a few years ago — just before [James] started work for us — who's the judge on Dancing with the Stars, who's an old friend of mine," she explained. "Prior to that, I had met Andros and Ken knew Andros vaguely. I'd met Andros with George Michael and Andros had been around the scene in London, so we knew him a little bit.”
She also shared how James’ parents helped get him the job at SUR. “We had dinner [one] night and they both said, you know, could you give one of my sons, James, a job, maybe as a busser or a barback? He probably — because we'd started Vanderpump Rules by then, I think maybe we were in the first season — thought, 'OK, I want to get involved in this,' and obviously then he started sleeping with Kristen Doute, and he was well in there like a rat up a drain pipe."
Who is James Kennedy’s dad, Andros Georgiou?
James’ father worked in the music industry long before James DJed his first See You Next Tuesday at SUR. Andros was a music producer who happened to be a childhood friend of George Michael’s, and the two toured together until they fell out in 1998, according to The Sun.
RELATED: Meet James Kennedy's Super Famous Father, Andros Georgiou
Andros and Jacqueline separated during Season 4 and Andros moved back to the United Kingdom following the divorce.
Who are James Kennedy’s brothers?
James has two younger brothers, Harry and Dylan. "They're my best mates. We still hang out all the time," James told The Daily Dish in 2017. "Harry is more the studious, smart kid. And Dylan's a bit of both. He plays soccer, a very good skateboarder. And I'm like the music kid. So we're all pretty creative and get along great. [They're] two pretty dope kids."
At the time of the interview, Dylan was a high school student in Beverly Hills, and Harry was in college in San Diego.
Since then, Harry has also worked as a busser at SUR. Bu,t even though Harry went on to follow in James’ footsteps at SUR, it’s actually Dylan who gets confused for his big bro the most.
"My little brother Dylan looks so much like me that he gets stopped on Third Street Promenade all the time," James added. "He's like a little celebrity himself now."
Did James Kennedy change his last name?
Yes: James Kennedy's given name at birth was James Georgiou.
According to Screen Rant, James shares his chosen name with a U.K. singer also named James Kennedy, who once pleaded with Vanderpump Rules fans to stop sending him hate mail meant for the SUR DJ.
Where is James Kennedy from?
James is originally from London, England.
"I was born in London, England. My dad is British and my mother is from the U.S. (New York)," he told Heavy in 2014. "I grew up in London for 14 years and then moved to Ibiza, Spain with the family for two years before coming to the States. I guess you could say I miss London, but I couldn’t imagine living there anymore. If I left California tomorrow, you would catch me in Ibiza before you would in London, that’s for sure.”
Recently, James purchased his first house “in the Valley” in Los Angeles where he lives with his girlfriend, Ally Lewber. “It’s a three-bedroom, like, little gray home,” he said on Part 2 of Vanderpump Rules: Pumped Up Edition, a Peacock-exclusive version of the Vanderpump Rules Season 10 reunion. “It’s got a pool in the back. It’s got a dream studio.”
How tall is James Kennedy?
At BravoCon 2023, James revealed his exact height, which is 6’1.5”. "At least I'm not like that 6'2" guy," James joked about his very specific height. "It's a hard 6'1" and a half."
"I do think I look better in person than I do on the show," James added. "I don't know what the camera does. I'm good-looking, but better in person."
