new Vanderpump Rules stars Marcus Johnson i Quim Suarez They didn’t mind their on-again, off-again relationship taking center stage in the Season 12 premiere, but they think their co-stars were wrong to hate the “toxic” romance.
“Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion,” Johnson, 35, said Us Weekly exclusively ahead of the debut of the reboot, which aired on Tuesday, December 2. “Some people are used to relationships and understand their ups and downs and some people don’t.”
He went on to explain, “If you don’t know what it’s like to be in love and be in a situation where everything isn’t perfect, you might have a virgin’s response to seeing someone go through something like that.”
Suarez, 31 years old, for his part, said so wetheir romance is “misunderstood.”
“There’s nothing said on camera that I haven’t already heard off camera,” she said in response to episode one, which saw several co-stars weigh in on her relationship with Johnson.
Suárez noted that they know the cast, including Venus Binkley, Jason Cohen, Shayne Davis, Chris Hahn, Angelica Jensen, Audrey Lingle, Natalie Maguire i Demy Selem — “for a long time” since they all work Lisa Vanderpump‘s West Hollywood SUR restaurantso opinions on couple’s relationship issues come from a place of love.
“Marcus and I’s relationship is kind of misunderstood because you have friends who are understandably protective of you and don’t want to see you in a toxic situation. But we’re not going through toxicity like people think,” she explained. we.
He noted that Johnson has been “navigating (the) grief” of losing both of his parents while juggling his relationship, which he admitted “never had a honeymoon phase.” (Vanderpump Rules fans will see more of it as the season progresses).
Marcus Johnson, Kim Suarez
Mark Hunter “thecobrasnake”/BravoSuarez shared that she and Johnson were “working through real life issues” before filming.
“There’s a lot that goes on in terms of friendships and their opinion of my relationship,” she teased, adding, “It’s the constant forgiveness and compassion and trying to put myself in their shoes.”
When it came to his co-stars, each had a different opinion.
Davis, 32, who is the only cast member who doesn’t work at SUR but is a longtime friend of Johnson, defended their relationship.
“Look, I grew up a little different, so I’m used to people having big ups and downs and maybe being a little more passionate in their particular love lives,” she told Us. “I wouldn’t say it’s that toxic for me.”
Johnson and Suarez’s close friend Binkley, 27, admitted she didn’t like how Kim reacted towards Maguire, also 27, after he accused her of flirting with Marcus in the premiere episode.
“I was very close with Kim and Marcus and so to see this kind of behavior, it just blew my mind,” she said exclusively. we. “I think it brought me and Natalie closer because I always reach out to the underdog, and whenever I feel like there’s an injustice, I want to stand up for them, and that’s how I felt for Natalie in this whole situation. So I think it just showed everyone’s true colors, the truth.”
For his part, Maguire said he was “very shocked” by Suarez’s allegations “because there are actually people here who have a history with Marcus, and she’s totally fine with them. So it’s pretty shocking.”
Johnson’s love life wasn’t the only topic of conversation that put him in the hot seat in the first episode of Season 12. Fans also saw Vanderpump reprimand him for drinking on the job, an act that led to the restaurant’s co-owner, Nathalie Pouille-Zapatato cry
Johnson defended his behavior.
“I respected everyone’s disappointment in me,” he said we. “I was someone who got caught up in the moment. This is a party all the time. I wasn’t resourceful enough that day to get out of my party.”
While Johnson admitted he felt “a little bad” about the situation, he said, “I’m not going to let it change how I conduct myself at work.”
New episodes of Vanderpump Rules season 12 it airs on Tuesdays at 9 PM on Bravo and the next day on Peacock.