Made In Chelsea’s Sam Vanderpump admits he feared he wouldn’t meet his son after liver failure diagnosis and reveals how his famous aunt Lisa gave him ‘the kick up the backside’ to keep going after having ‘breakdown’

Sam Vanderpump recently shared his fear that he wouldn’t live long enough to meet his son, after learning he needed a life-saving liver transplant.

The 28-year-old reality star revealed last month on Made In Chelsea that he has end-stage liver disease that can’t be reversed. Without a liver transplant, doctors estimate he has only four to five years to live.

He was born with two uncommon conditions affecting his liver and kidneys, but these didn’t cause problems until December. At that time, he developed a serious infection called sepsis, which caused his organs to fail.

On the recent We Need To Talk podcast with Paul C Brunson, Sam shared the story of how he found out what was really causing his health problems, shortly after discovering his fiancée, Alice Yaxley, was expecting their first child.

As a lifestyle expert, I often talk about how our minds protect us during difficult times, and this is a perfect example. Looking back on a truly frightening experience, it’s not uncommon to find that the details are hazy. In fact, it’s almost like the mind deliberately shields you by blocking out the most traumatic parts – you might not even remember when it happened. It could have been weeks ago, but the memory feels distant because your brain is trying to cope and heal.

I received a notification on my NHS app. My wife, Alice, was at work, and I was home alone. When I saw it was a letter from King’s College, I opened it, and it was surprisingly short – just four lines long.

The letter said, “Dear Sam, your recent CT scan results are consistent with your illness, and we are referring you for an evaluation to see if you’re a candidate for a liver transplant.” Hearing that… it really takes your breath away, it’s a shocking moment.

Paul asked me what was going through my head, and honestly, just talking about it makes my eyes well up. It was pure, raw fear. I was absolutely terrified. All I could think was, ‘Is this it? Am I going to die?’ It was awful, just…awful. I can barely even say it now.

Sam, who lost his father seven years ago, shared that his first thought was always for his unborn child. He explained, ‘It makes me so sad to think my dad will never get to meet his grandchild.’

‘To now start having that thing dawned on you. Am I going to see my child? That’s terrifying.’

Since sharing his diagnosis on Made In Chelsea, Sam has been vocal about his health journey to help people recognize the subtle symptoms of sepsis and to encourage organ donation, with the goal of saving lives.

He acknowledged that sharing his news brought up painful memories he thought he’d dealt with, and led to an emotional breakdown in recent weeks.

Sam shared that he had a difficult emotional breakdown, crying for about twenty minutes. He credited his aunt, Lisa Vanderpump, with giving him the motivation he needed to cope, both for himself and for his partner, Alice, who is expecting their child.

Lisa, 65, is known for appearing on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and now has her own show, Vanderpump Rules. She’s the sister of Sam’s father, Mark Vanderpump, who is a businessman and DJ.

Following Mark’s death by suicide in 2018 at age 59, Sam and she grew even closer. He had previously shared that she was a wonderful source of support for him and his brother, really stepping up during a difficult time.

Sam explained that he became overwhelmed because he hadn’t expected so much attention from the media after sharing his diagnosis on the E4 reality show.

I had a difficult time a couple of weeks ago, and I decided to share what happened. I wanted to use my experience to raise awareness and encourage others to do the same – it’s the right thing to do.

I thought I’d just appear on Made in Chelsea, do a little bit of work with the media, and that would be the end of it. That’s genuinely what I anticipated.

About eight weeks later, I had managed to process what happened and set it aside, dealing with it for the time being. That’s when the media attention we discussed earlier really took off.

He continued, saying that liver transplants are usually very successful, and he’s committed to being there for his son because of that.

Okay, so yeah, he did mention being scared, but honestly, it’s all about the now, and he’s healthy now! He says his liver might not last forever – maybe four or five years – but he’s getting a transplant! A transplant! And he’s so confident everything will be amazing, he’s going to live a long, happy life, and I just know it. It’s such a relief to hear him say it, honestly. I’m just so happy for him!

I managed that situation and worked through it, and Made in Chelsea actually captured it really well. Then came the intense media attention – every newspaper reported I had only four or five years to live, which wasn’t accurate. That was incredibly difficult for me and really affected me deeply.

Then, all of a sudden, I found myself in a situation where my mom was clearly upset. I could hear the sadness in her voice, and she seemed to sense it in mine as well.

You start to wonder why you even brought it up. You realize you made a mistake by sharing it publicly and wish you’d handled it privately within the family, working through it yourselves.

‘And I broke and I sat there with Alice and we just took 20 minutes to cry.’

Sam shared that Lisa was his main source of encouragement, remembering a conversation with his aunt that gave him a much-needed boost and motivation.

She told me, “You have to support Alice and be there for your son. I know this is difficult for you.”

She was really good at understanding how I felt, but she also gave me the motivation I needed. That made me realize why I was doing this – to help people become more aware of the issue.

There are 8,000 people on the transplant list who would love to have my voice and opportunity to encourage others to become donors. If more people signed up, we could shorten that list and help them get the transplants they need to recover.

Sam and Alice shared the wonderful news that they’re expecting a baby boy in September, with a due date of Valentine’s Day next year. They’ve already chosen a name for him that holds special meaning for their family.

Sam shared that they’ve named their child Marmaduke. The name has a special meaning – Sam’s dad, who has passed away, always hoped their brother would be called ‘Duke’ and even predicted he’d become Prime Minister, imagining him as Duke Vanderpump.

I adored the name, but my mom wasn’t a fan. That’s why my brother ended up being named Jack. Our dad cleverly got his way in the end by giving Jack the middle name Daniels.

We absolutely love the name Marmaduke, and we’ve nicknamed him Duke. We were already fond of the name because of a wonderful scene in Downton Abbey where Maggie Smith and her daughter talk about a character named Marmaduke, and that connection made us love it even more.

Although the pregnancy came as a surprise, especially since Alice, 24, has polycystic ovary syndrome, the couple emphasized that there’s never really a good time to have a baby.

The couple met while watching the Euros final between Spain and England in July of last year and got engaged just eight months after that. They’ve been together for 16 months now.

Sam shared that Alice helped save his life. She called an ambulance for him in December when he thought he had the flu, but it turned out he was actually suffering from sepsis, and she quickly realized the severity of the situation.

Doctors told him he came very close to dying and that if he hadn’t been hospitalized a day earlier, it would have been too late.

He remembered thinking he was going to die, and being truly frightened that his body wouldn’t be able to handle it. He said it was a terrifying experience.

I’ll never forget when the doctor told me my liver and kidneys were failing. I immediately started crying. Surprisingly, my mum stayed calm – I would have expected her to be devastated, but she didn’t want to frighten me.

Doctors described my liver function as severely abnormal, even frightening. You don’t usually notice your organs working, but when mine started to fail – my liver and kidneys especially – my body went into crisis. My heart was working much too hard, my pancreas was having trouble, and my spleen wasn’t functioning properly.

I was in so much pain and discomfort, and I desperately fought to stay alive. I honestly didn’t believe I would make it out of the hospital.

It’s easy to underestimate the flu, but it almost cost me my life. Doctors told my mother I was just 24-48 hours away from not surviving. Thankfully, my girlfriend called an ambulance, and she truly saved me.

2025-11-18 16:20

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