'Flipping Out' 's Jeff Lewis Pens Apology to Jenni Pulos: 'I Don't Feel Good About What Happened'

"Because we had such a deep, loving relationship, Jenni and I,  that there was a lot of hurt," Jeff Lewis said, of his friendship with former Flipping Out costar Jenni Pulos

Jeff Lewis is hoping 2020 brings a reconciliation with his former Flipping Out costar, Jenni Pulos.

On Monday, the interior designer and house flipper revealed on his SiriusXM radio show Jeff Lewis Live that he had extended an apology to Pulos, in an attempt to make amends for their messy friendship fallout.

The olive branch was sent to Pulos by Lewis via text on Sunday, Lewis said. He recited the message to his listeners during Monday’s show.

“What I wrote to her is, ‘Hi, Happy New Year. I hope you and your family are happy and healthy. Would you be open to meeting with me sometime?’ ” Lewis said. “‘I don’t feel good about what happened between us and I’m very sorry for my role in it.’ ”

Lewis later explained that he wanted the message to lead to an in-person meeting. “I’m hoping that she gets back to me,” said Lewis. “I would love to sit down and talk to her.”

And while he was going into the conversation hopeful the two could bury the hatchet, Lewis said he was open to whatever Pulos wanted to make of it.

“I don’t expect anything in return from her,” Lewis said. “I plan on clearing my conscience and telling her everything that I’m sorry for, but I’m not going to do it and be like, ‘Well what are you sorry for?’ That should happen in her own time. Or not!”

“[We have a] long, long history together,” Lewis added. “She’s like my sister. We live basically in the same neighborhood. I know I’m going to run into her some day, I don’t want it to be awkward. I have no expectations attached to this. I just don’t want it to be uncomfortable if I run into her.”

A representative for Pulos did not immediately reply to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Scott Aukerman Visits Hollywood Today Live
Jeff Lewis and Jenni Pulos. David Livingston/Getty

Lewis, 49, and Pulos, 47, were friends for nearly 20 years before they got into an argument while filming season 11 of Flipping Out in which Pulos lamented that her job at Lewis’s design firm, Jeff Lewis Design was keeping her from the acting career she always wanted.

The two went their separate ways days later, with Lewis letting Pulos go from her role at has business. Their emotional confrontation aired on what many believe to be Flipping Out‘s final episode (the show has yet to be picked up by Bravo for another season, over a year later).

Previously, Lewis has said that meeting was the last time he and Pulos have spoken.

Lewis also accused Pulos of making complaints about him to Bravo HR, an accusation which she vehemently denied to PEOPLE.

Pulos opened up about the rift for the first time last November, saying that she was blindsided when he fired her. “I had no idea it was coming,” she said.

Pulos went on to say during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen that same month that the ending of her relationship with Lewis was especially difficult because of their longtime close ties (Pulos — who shares daughters Alianna, 6, and Georgia, 2, with husband Dr. Jonathan Nassos, is also the godmother to Lewis’ daughter Monroe, 3).

“The whole thing is wild and completely unexpected,” Pulos said. “I have loved him like a brother and I always will. I wish him and [Monroe] the best and their family and his father. They’ve been a big part of my life for a long time.”

Watch What Happens Live - Season 12
Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty

Elsewhere on Monday’s Jeff Lewis Live, Lewis explained why it took him so long to contact Pulos.

“I’ve thought about it for months, reaching out,” Lewis said. “I think I’m a good apologizer. Only because, I wait until I’m actually really sorry. Like, if you’re forcing me to apologize right now for something I just don’t feel like I should apologize for, I’m not going to be a very good apologizer. Sometimes it takes me weeks, months, a year to really reflect and realize what my role was in something. And I feel like it took many, many months . . . maybe because we had such a deep, loving relationship, Jenni and I, that there was a lot of hurt. I think it took me a very, very long time to really take a look and think, ‘What did you do, Jeff? Why did she react this way? What did I say?’ ”

“So I finally realized that it was time,” Lewis added. “It was a new year and I’m going to reach out and I’m just going to put it out on the line.”

Lewis first teased a possible attempt to reconcile with Pulos back in December, during an appearance on Andy Cohen‘s SiriusXM show.

“I do believe there will be a reconciliation with Jenni, and the reason I know that is because the person who cuts my hair cuts Jenni’s hair and I’ve been hearing things through her,” Lewis said. “Like, she’s ready to accept a phone call.”

“I do apologize for my role, absolutely,” Lewis added. “I know what I did. … I think a reconciliation is inevitable.”

If Lewis does make up with Pulos, she’ll be the second Flipping Out star with whom he found peace after a fight. He and his former housekeeper, Zoila Chavez, had repaired their bond back in October.

Jeff Lewis Live airs weekdays (12 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Radio Andy (Ch. 102)

Related Articles