That’s one way to get people to tune in. Jeff Lewis made it clear there is no love lost between him and former colleague Jenni Pulos while promoting the newest season of Flipping Out.
The TV personality, 48, posted a promo shot with his fellow Flipping Out costars, Gage Edwards and Pulos, on Tuesday, September 11, with a red X placed over Pulos’ face. He simply captioned the shot, “Don’t miss the Season 11 Premiere of Flipping Out, tonight 10:15/9:15c.”
Lewis later deleted the pic and a source told Us Weekly exclusively that the network asked him to remove the dig. “Bravo asked but didn’t demand that Jeff take the picture down because it was becoming a distraction to the show. Jeff took it down on his own,” the source explained.
Us Weekly confirmed on Thursday, September 6, that the former pals — whose friendship and professional relationship’s ups and downs had been widely documented on the Bravo series — parted ways as business partners. One day later, Lewis revealed why their relationship ended during an episode of Jeff Lewis Live, telling listeners that what began as a “fight” quickly turned into a “rift.”
“I had offered some unsolicited career advice. That’s where it started escalating. We realized there are about three people in my office that really don’t wanna be there. That really shouldn’t be there. That have other objectives. … And other career goals,” he explained. “And I was actually very surprised to hear that Jenni was one of them and she said that she had given up her acting career to work for me, and that really hurt my feelings, because I felt like I have done nothing but accommodate her for her auditions and meetings and all of that.”
The interior designer admitted he was concerned that without Pulos on the show, viewers would stop tuning in, so he offered to have her appear on Flipping Out as a friend. “[Jenni] doubled down and allegedly I was reported for wrongfully terminating her off her own show,” he continued. “And there were also allegations of a hostile work environment, so somebody’s talking to an attorney, which scares me.”
“My showrunner had to go frame by frame to confirm that there was no abuse,” Lewis added. “I have been cleared of all abuse, victimization charges.”
For her part, Pulos, 45, has not spoken out about demise of her friendship with Lewis. However, she did take to Twitter on Tuesday, September 4, to share a throwback from season 6 of Flipping Out ahead of the season 11 premiere.
Flipping Out returns to Bravo on Tuesday, September 11, at 10 p.m. ET.