“Made in Chelsea” star Sam Vanderpump is opening up about the terrifying health crisis that nearly claimed his life. The 28-year-old reality star and nephew of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” icon Lisa Vanderpump revealed that he was “24 hours away from death” after developing sepsis caused by liver disease.
GettyAppearing on This Morning on November 5, Vanderpump recalled being rushed to the hospital in December 2024, where doctors immediately began an aggressive course of antibiotics.
Doctors Raced to Save His Life With Powerful Antibiotics
“They flooded my body with the strongest antibiotics they could find, like using an industrial cleaner on me,” he explained. “It was very touch and go at one point, and if I’d gone into hospital 24 hours later, I wouldn’t have made it.”
Vanderpump, who has lived with liver issues since childhood, said doctors had long believed his condition was stable.
“They always said, ‘You may need a liver transplant one day,’ but as the years went on, they told me, ‘You’re healthy, live your life normally,’” he said. “Then all of a sudden last year, I got very ill with sepsis, and things took a turn.”
The Diagnosis That Changed Everything
Initially, Vanderpump and his fiancée, Alice Yaxley, believed he had the flu. “I was extremely dehydrated,” he recalled. “I went through a litre of water and told Alice, ‘I just can’t quench my thirst.’ I ended up sleeping for two days. When I finally got to the hospital, they told me my organs were going into failure.”
Alice described the experience as “terrifying,” admitting that doctors were initially unsure of what was happening. “It was difficult to know what was going on,” she said. “Even doctors weren’t entirely sure.”
After several days of uncertainty, Vanderpump’s blood results confirmed a critical diagnosis: end-stage liver disease. Three months later, he received a notification through his NHS app confirming that he would need to undergo a liver transplant assessment.
“It was shocking,” he said. “I got a notification saying, ‘You’re going to be sent for a liver transplant assessment.’ My doctor later apologized, saying he wanted to tell me in person.”
Facing an Uncertain Future
Despite feeling physically well, Vanderpump said the reality of needing a transplant was complex to process. “I told my doctor, ‘I feel perfectly fine. I’ll probably go for a run later,” he said. “But he told me, ‘I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you if I thought in four or five years your liver would be OK.’”
During a recent episode of “Made in Chelsea”, Vanderpump shared the news with co-stars Ollie Locke and Tabitha Willett in an emotional scene that left everyone in tears. “It was so raw,” he told Daily Mail.
“I was sobbing. Ollie was sobbing. Tabitha was sobbing. I can speak about it now, but privately, I’m still very emotional. You can probably see I’m on the edge, but I won’t break down.”
Vanderpump said the survival odds were “terrifying” to read. “There’s a 95 percent chance of survival after one year, 90 percent at five years, 80 percent at ten. After 25 years, it’s fifty-fifty,” he shared. “You always think you’ll live to 90, but now, past 53, I’ve got a fifty-fifty chance. That’s hard to accept.”
Now on the road to recovery and awaiting his transplant assessment, Vanderpump hopes to use his story to raise awareness about organ donation and liver disease. He and Alice are expecting their first child in February and plan to marry in 2027.
“There’s so little information out there,” he said. “If a 16-year-old going through this one day watches my documentary and sees how I made it out the other side, I’ll have done my job. It’s my duty.”
Vanderpump is now encouraging others to register as organ donors. “If someone hasn’t registered, there’s a fifty-fifty chance their family will agree to donate. If they have, the chances rise to 90 percent,” he explained. “It’s vital to register — it saves lives.”
