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The Daily Dish Producer Secrets

Did the Vanderpump Rules Producers Know Raquel Was Going to Skip Her Pride Shift?

What you need to know about the moment that almost got Raquel Leviss fired — straight from the VPR producers who watched it all go down.

By Jessica Butler
Is Lisa Vanderpump Firing Raquel Leviss?

At this point, we all know that Lisa Vanderpump runs a pretty tight ship on Vanderpump Rules. So, when new waitress Raquel Leviss missed her shift at SUR to watch her DJ boyfriend, James Kennedy, perform at Tom Tom during Pride, let's just say things didn't go over too well...

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Raquel's decision left SUR manager Peter Madrigal a SURver short on one of the busiest days of the year — and as a result, the pageant queen was close to being let go by Lisa herself.

According to the production team in an enhanced episode of the February 11 episode which aired on February 18, filming all of this drama as it was unfolding was quite a doozy. In fact, they had no idea what was going on in the moment. Now, they're revealing all.

First off, just to make things clear, the team did NOT know Raquel was going to skip her shift at SUR to watch James DJ. "We couldn't get ahold of her," they say.

Raquel wasn't responding to calls or texts "for a while — so we had no idea where she was until we spotted her at Tom Tom," producers explain.

That must have thrown the whole crew for a loop, but the consequences that followed were even more intense.

Once Peter found out, his stern side was forced to take over. The production team admits that Peter is friendly and fair with the staff until someone messes up. "Then, he isn't shy about putting on his manager hat and dropping the hammer," they say.

Hearing the crew's perspective is definitely a game changer, especially with this kind of situation. We don't think Raquel will be skipping her shifts again anytime soon.

Want more Vanderpump Rules? New episodes air every Tuesday at 9/8 c or catch up on this season through the Bravo app.

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