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Made In Chelsea star Sam Vanderpump has explained why online trolls telling him to ‘buy a new liver’ are wrong.
The reality star, 29, was hospitalised with kidney and liver failure – leading to life-threatening sepsis – in December 2024 due to a genetic liver condition.
In October 2025, he announced he had been handed an end-stage liver disease diagnosis and given just a handful of years for his liver to continue functioning, meaning he must receive an urgent organ transplant.
Over the past several months – alongside his journey of becoming a father with his wife Alice – he has been open about his health and the struggles he is facing as a result of this life-changing diagnosis.
In November last year, the nephew of TV star Lisa Vanderpump even had to go on social media to shut down trolls accusing him of ‘making a meal’ of the news.
Now, he has had to debunk another persistent myth around organ transplants after receiving messages asking why his famous aunt can’t simply just purchase the liver he needs.
Calling it a ‘crazy question’, he passionately explained: ‘I think where the confusion comes from here, because it has been asked so much, is yes there is private medical care where you can pay for the treatment around organ transplants, but you can’t buy organs.
‘The HTA – Human Tissue Authority – makes sure that doesn’t happen. It would open up a whole black market for organs.’
In a recent E4 documentary, Made In Chelsea: Sam Vanderpump’s Story, he opened up about exactly what is afflicting his liver – something called congenital hepatic fibrosis.
What is end-stage liver disease?
End-stage liver disease (ESLD) is the final stage of liver damage, where the liver is so scarred and damaged that it can no longer function properly.
This irreversible condition is the result of chronic liver diseases, such as advanced cirrhosis or acute liver failure.
Symptoms include fatigue, jaundice, swelling, confusion, and abdominal pain, and treatment may involve a liver transplant if the liver function is severely compromised.
Without a working liver, a person cannot survive.
‘My liver isn’t smooth. It’s quite bumpy and the fibrosis, it’s got a cyst in it and [is] essentially struggling to filter the blood.
‘And that disease has progressed over 28 years, which has obviously led to the inevitable.’
Last year, Sam explained why he had decided to publicly share his health condition.
He said: ‘I’ve had moments like right now where I’ve gone, should I have just not spoken about it? But the reason I’m speaking about it so loudly is that there are currently 8,000 people in the UK waiting for organs.
‘That number can drastically come down if everyone confirms their decision on the NHS organ donor register.
How do liver transplants on the NHS work?
According to the NHS, the majority of livers that are suitable for transplantation in the UK come from donors that have died (deceased donors).
The anatomy of the liver means that it is possible to remove part of it from a living person. The removed part can then be transplanted into a patient with end-stage liver disease. Currently, 3 in 100 liver transplants performed in the UK are from living donors and the majority of these are for children.
There are more people waiting for liver transplants than there are donors.
The average wait time for a liver transplant in the UK is 5 to 7 months, while patients can shorten their wait time if they are willing to accept a higher risk liver.
It’s difficult to predict when a liver might come available, because to be a good fit they have to be in a suitable blood group, height and weight for the recipient.
‘The reason for this is that when that time comes, and someone’s organs are viable for donation, if someone hasn’t recorded their decision, their family opt out 50% of the time.
‘We can increase that to 90% if we confirm our decision today.’
He concluded: ‘I don’t know how many lives are lost every year, but it shouldn’t be measured like that. If we can save one life every year I think it’s worth it.’
Recalling the moment he was told of his diagnosis after being rushed to hospital, to the Daily Mail, he shared: ‘I thought I was going to die. I didn’t think my body could cope, and that was the scariest thing. It was terrifying.
‘I remember the doctor saying to me that I was going into liver and kidney failure. I burst into tears. My mum didn’t react badly, you would expect her to be in complete meltdown, but she didn’t want to scare me.
After tying the knot with his partner in December, he welcomed his son Marmaduke just two months later.
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