After a divided and divisive Season 11 post-Scandoval, “Vanderpump Rules” will be entirely recast, Bravo announced Tuesday morning.
After hitting ratings highs during the show’s 10th season in 2023 in the wake of the cheating scandal known as the Scandoval — as well as being nominated for two Emmys — “Vanderpump Rules” faced unsustainable difficulties when the cast convened to film Season 11 in summer 2023. Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval, who had broken up after Madix had discovered his affair with fellow cast member Rachel Leviss, were largely not able to film together because Madix absolutely despised Sandoval. She drew a strict boundary between them that was healthy for her, but proved untenable for “Vanderpump Rules,” which requires togetherness among the cast. Sandoval, meanwhile, undermined any possibility of redemption, not only by not actually seeming sorry at all, and justifying his actions at every turn, but by giving catastrophic interviews after the show premiered, first on Nick Viall’s “Viall Files” podcast, and then to the New York Times Magazine.
The new season of the show will start production next year, and the cast will be announced at a later date.
Season 2 of the “Vanderpump Rules” spinoff “The Valley” was filmed over the summer, and included guest appearances from Scheana Shay and her husband Brock Davies, as well as Lala Kent and Tom Schwartz. Those cast members may well move to “The Valley” permanently for Season 3, since they’re IRL friends with the show’s core cast of Brittany Cartwright, Jax Taylor and Kristen Doute. Season 2 of “The Valley” will premiere next year. Madix, meanwhile, has found success outside of the show, appearing in Broadway’s “Chicago” twice, hosting “Love Island” for Peacock and with her West Hollywood sandwich shop Something About Her, which she owns with “Vanderpump Rules” cast member Katie Maloney.
The new cast of “Vanderpump Rules” will comprise staffers in executive producer Lisa Vanderpump’s existing restaurants, which is how the original show began in 2013 when it was an offshoot of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” According to Bravo’s official announcement today, “Under Lisa Vanderpump’s watchful eye, the West Hollywood mainstay SUR — and now TomTom — welcomes the next batch of servers, hosts and bartenders rife with plenty of drama, situationships and frenemies.”
“What a thrill it is to build on the legacy of this series by doing it all over again,” said Alex Baskin, executive producer for 32 Flavors. “With profound appreciation for the original group and their iconic run, we can’t wait for the audience to see a dynamic new group of co-workers and friends make their way through life together.”
In recent years, Bravo has proven to be unafraid of rebooting shows that aren’t working. After a disastrous 13th season of “The Real Housewives of New York City,” Bravo recast the show from the ground up, with mixed results. “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” may be in for such treatment as well, since that cast could no longer be in the same room together by the end of its most recent season, but the network is taking its time figuring out a path forward with that show.
