Hannah Fouch and Marciano Brunette are quickly proving themselves to be Vanderpump Villa‘s breakout stars. The duo — who dated for three years before entering Château Rosabelle in more of a situationship — waste no time jumping right into the drama. In the most recent episode, which dropped on Hulu today, Brunette finds himself in a screaming match with housekeeper Grace Cottrell before he kisses one of the guests behind Fouch’s back. When Lisa Vanderpump catches wind of his behavior, she temporarily demotes him from lead server to dishwasher — just in time for Fouch to let her freak flag fly with the five single men coming into the château.
So here we have Brunette in the kitchen — a punishment he told DECIDER he was “grateful” for as he “could have gotten fired” — while Fouch is busy taking body shots off the sexy new guests. But despite the tumultuous state of their relationship, they have no plans to let it affect their jobs. In fact, working together under strained conditions isn’t exactly new territory for the couple, who have been on and off for several years while working at the same Las Vegas restaurant.
“In the beginning of our relationship, we weren’t really good at [working together] — and especially when we weren’t together. We were really bad at it,” Brunette said. “And, you know, through that time and maturity we’ve learned to be able to communicate and still get the job done.”
While they were both tight-lipped about where they stand now as a couple, both Fouch and Brunette teased much more debauchery to come on Vanderpump Villa, from “whipped cream at random spots” to more “hookups and nonhookups.”
Keep reading for DECIDER’s full interview with Brunette and Fouch.
What is it like working for Lisa Vanderpump?
Hannah: It’s a dream come true. She’s an amazing boss. She’s an amazing mentor and somebody I look up to. Just seeing her work ethic, it just drives me even more to do my job correctly and want to be better.
Marciano: Just to piggyback off that, I mean, it’s nothing you can expect, to be honest with you. It’s something that is even better and higher than ever expected and honestly [it’s a] dream come true and once in a lifetime opportunity to be hand-selected by her to do this job, and to be on the TV show, etc. Like, I mean, come on, like unbelievable.
You both have a lot of history. What was the most difficult part of working together at the château? And where do you both stand with each other now?
Hannah: I think honestly, him trying to be my boss because he’s just the lead server — just kidding, but not really. We’re on top of each other 24/7 [so] navigating through that and also learning how to work around other people, living with them. But we got through it and I think we did an amazing job.
Marciano: Honestly, we’re so comfortable doing it nowadays. We’ve been on and off together for four years now almost but we’ve also been working together for those four years — we work at the same restaurant here in Las Vegas. So in the beginning of our relationship, we weren’t really good at doing it — and especially when we weren’t together. We were really bad at it. And you know, through that time and maturity we’ve learned to be able to communicate and still get the job done. I think you’ll see that on the show. Even if we’re not together, we’re there for a purpose and we want to get the job done — and that’s what we do.
And then what we are now? I mean, you’ll have to watch the rest of the show.
When you guys come into the château, your relationship is kind of in limbo. For me, it was kind of reminiscent of Stassi Schroeder and Jax Taylor when they were together on Vanderpump Rules. Do you think that’s an accurate comparison?
Hannah: I love that we’re getting compared to Stassi and Jax. I think Stassi is an icon and I think she’s amazing. Him and I have been together off and on for four years and I feel like our relationship is a little bit different than theirs. But I could see why people do compare us to Jax and Stassi because I call it as I see it and so does he … [and] he does make bad choices sometimes.
It’s like the two alphas in the group.
Marciano: We’re very reminiscent because there’s a lot of tendencies that we both have that you’ll see from their show to ours. But I’m also okay with it as well. Like she kind of said, she’s queen bee. I’m, you know, the number one man in the group, I think. So it’s kind of funny that way in that aspect. But we’re very different and we’re not the same either. And our relationship is also very different as well. But we’re okay with the comparisons … for now.
Marciano, I want to hear from your perspective. Why do you think you got off on the wrong foot with a lot of your castmates?
Marciano: I’m a strong independent person that speaks his mind. Do I think a lot before I speak? No. But at the end of the day, I went in there to get a job done. I was raised to get that job done at any cost. Is that going to cause some tension and some friction? Absolutely. But if the job gets done, the job gets done. And that’s what I was there for.
I came there to do a job. I did not technically come there to meet friends. Like, I’m there to impress Lisa Vanderpump and Lisa Vanderpump only. And that’s what I did. Do I want to be loved and liked? Absolutely. Was I? Not always, but that’s okay.
Hannah, you kind of turned a blind eye to some Marciano’s scuffles with the other staffers. Why did you do that? And do you wish you had spoken up sooner?
Hannah: That’s between them. That has nothing to do with me and I’m not going to add more stress onto my life when I’m trying to do a job for Lisa. Marciano can handle his own. All these people were picked for a reason so I think they can handle their own as well. So I don’t really need to go in and have anyone’s back or anything.
Hannah, you and Priscila Ferrari argued in the beginning but it seems like that gets put behind you and she’s there for you in this most recent episode. What can you tell us about your friendship with her?
Hannah: Priscila and I definitely got off to a rocky start. But I think she’s an amazing person. And I’ve really gotten to know her and I enjoyed working with her.
Marciano, you also seemed to form a bond with Eric Funderwhite. Why do you think he rubs some of the other staffers the wrong way? And what can you tell us about your friendship?
Marciano: Eric and I really thrive off each other. If one of us is trying to do something in the château, all it takes is the other person to be like, “Yeah, let’s do it.” And then next thing you know we’re doing something that’s so much fun [and] outgoing. He’s a strong personality. He wants to do things a certain way, just like I do. It just so happens that me and him think alike. So when you have two people that think alike that nobody else is thinking [like], yeah, we’re gonna be hated on and they’re gonna be like, “What is wrong with these dudes?”
But we’re not the ones at fault there. We’re the ones that are trying to give the best experience possible. I think you’ll see that on the show — that Eric and I, and I’m not saying the other castmates don’t, but we go above and beyond to give that guest experience a 10 out of 10 every single time. Maybe some of the castmates aren’t fond of it because it’s not them and they can’t even fake doing that. But we can, we enjoy doing that shit.
Hannah: [Sarcastically] Yeah, you definitely went above and beyond.
Marciano, you end up working in the kitchen in the fifth episode. Do you both think that was a fair punishment?
Hannah: I think it was more than fair. I think you should have been back there longer.
Marciano: Honestly, I was very grateful for the punishment considering I could have gotten fired. Did I? No, thank God I did not. But I was okay with that punishment. It was a really good growing experience for me to get closer with the kitchen, with the housekeepers, and then to also learn my lesson on top of that and then show people that I can do it and I’m not going to bitch or complain. I’m gonna take it as a man, I messed up, let’s learn and grow from it and show them that I can take it too and I’m gonna move forward after.
What can you guys tease for the rest of the season?
Hannah: You’re gonna see a lot of animals with Eric. I’m trying to think of what else we can tease. There’s so much.
Marciano: There’s gonna be a lot of whipped cream at random spots. Like you could go with, like, hookups and non-hookups…
Hannah: There’s gonna be body shots — a lot of body shots when he’s in the back of the kitchen… Jumping in the pool in our uniforms.
Marciano: No, there’s a lot. There’s a lot of heart to it as well. You’re gonna see a lot of relationships come and go through this. And you’re gonna want to ask for more, to be honest with you. I think that’s what it really gets down to — is that once the show ends, you’re gonna be like, “Okay, well, what’s going on now?” It’s a good show.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
New episodes of Vanderpump Villa come out every Monday on Hulu.