‘Pump Rules’ Star James Kennedy On How DJing Is Different Now That He’s Sober, Says Fans Bring Pasta To Shows

James Kennedy appeared on Lala Kent and Randall Emmett’s podcast series last week, where he opened up about his life as a now-sober DJ.

During the March 11 episode of Give Them Lala… with Randall, Kennedy admitted to using alcohol to cope with the anxiety he felt prior to his DJing gigs, before embarking on his new life of sobriety. He chose to get sober last summer after being dealt an ultimatum from Raquel Leviss, his girlfriend of four years.

“Before every show, I used to get these rushes of energy and anxiety before I used to on, like any club nights. It used to rush over me and I used to numb that with drinking,” Kennedy explained to Kent and her fiancé.

According to Kennedy, whose DJ sets typically didn’t begin until around midnight, he usually had a hard buzz on before he even began his gig. Then, after drinking throughout his set, Kennedy was known to be tipsy or even wasted by the time the set came to an end.

“Now I’m dealing with all of this energy and anxiety [sober],” he went on.

Kennedy’s girlfriend, Leviss, told him on an episode of Vanderpump Rules earlier this year that if he didn’t make the decision to quit drinking completely, she would break up with him. As fans of the Bravo reality series will recall, the ultimatum came on the heels of a night out with Leviss and her girlfriends, during which Kennedy slammed Leviss as a “sl*t” in a drunken rage and made a number of other verbally abusive comments to her.

At another point during the podcast, Kennedy revealed that fans of Vanderpump Rules have become known to bring pasta, and even pasta sauce, to his DJ gigs around the country. This is an apparent nod to a Season 6 moment between him and Kent, during which he yelled, “It’s not about the pasta, Lala!”

“I’ve got pasta sauces in the air. People bring pasta to the shows and start throwing it… Like, actual tomato sauce,” he laughed.

As The Inquisitr previously reported, Kennedy appeared on Watch What Happens Live earlier this month, where he confirmed he was nearly nine-months sober while chatting with host Andy Cohen.

Also during the show, Kennedy said he’s been attending AA meetings and taken a hold of his life, not only for his own sake but for the sake of his relationship with Leviss.