Jeff Lewis Has Regrets About The Fight That Led To Him Losing Jenni Pulos As A Friend
The reality shows on Bravo have weathered many a cast member's divorce over the years, but none is more painful than that of the central "couple" on Flipping Out, designer Jeff Lewis and his employee/best friend, Jenni Pulos. Unfortunately, Jenni says she was just as surprised as fans to learn of her dismissal.
"I had no idea it was coming," Pulos told People about being fired by the show's real estate spectator, flipper, and designer. The final straw came after an "explosive lunch," she shared, that ended her eleven-year run with Jeff Lewis Design.
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Thank you @people. Link in bio ⬆️
A post shared by Jenni Pulos (@jennipulos) on Nov 7, 2018 at 8:16am PST
"I always saw myself seeing the show through," she said, but, after the last supper lunch, "I decided I was not going to continue a friendship with someone who thought of me the way he did."
Though their working relationship ended a few months back, and Lewis took a few personal jabs at her since the breakup-including putting a red X over her face in an Instagram post, alleging their on-screen relationship was faked-Pulos remained silent until now.
Still, she took the high-road when chatting with People, saying, "I've always wished [Jeff] the best, and will continue to wish him the best. He's a wonderful designer and has so many talents. I learned a lot and I'm proud of what we built."
After opening up in a "heated segment" on his Sirius XM radio show, Jeff Lewis Live! a few weeks ago, Jeff shared his frustration with listeners about Jenni's statements, accusing her of lying about certain issues, including not having cited wrongful termination, abuse, and victimization claims. "I would never make something like this up because it is damaging to my reputation and my career," he said.
Further adding, "I have always claimed that Flipping Out is a true authentic un-produced show. It is. However...[Jenni] has not been working for me, for several, several seasons. And I apologize because it is the one inauthentic thing about the show."
Jeff further explained that Jenni had worked as his assistant for ten years-up until the last three years or so, during which time she allegedly spent five months of each year with him at Jeff Lewis Design, but he did not pay her. In case you missed the emotional radio show segment, Jeff responded to Jenni's People interview with raw emotion: "I'm hurt, I'm upset, I'm angry, I'm everything. I'm going through every bit of emotion...I'm devastated."
Most recently, ahead of Tuesday's Flipping Out season 11 finale in which the fight is supposed to air, Jeff opened up again, this time remorseful. "I have looked at this episode and I have had a lot of time to think about it and I wish I would have handled it differently," he told People. "It wasn’t worth losing a friendship over...So I have deep regrets about that."
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