In the world of reality TV, no one’s place on a cast is safe, as the stars of Bravo series Vanderpump Rules just discovered with ruthless abruptness.
The Bravo-verse was sent into a tizzy this morning when it was revealed that the entire cast of Vanderpump Rules, including some who have been there since its 2013 inception, have been given the boot, just ahead of the reality series’ upcoming season. While castmates on the show — which follows the antics of the wait staff at Lisa Vanderpump’s LA restaurant, SUR — have come and gone throughout its 11-season run, the firing of the entire ensemble in one fell swoop marks the biggest cast shake-up we’ve ever seen on Bravo.
For those not keeping score, the mass exodus means that every single castmate who appeared on the most recent season won’t return for the upcoming season 12, namely Scheana Shay, Katie Maloney, Tom Sandoval, Tom Schwartz, Ariana Madix, James Kennedy, Lala Kent, Ally Lewber and Brock Davies. There is, however, one cast member who has held on to her place on the show, largely thanks to it being named after her. Lisa Vanderpump was the only Vanderpump Rules star whose contract was renewed ahead of the new season, so we can rest assured that her reality TV reign remains intact (for now).
While the exact reason for the dramatic cast shakeup has not yet been revealed, fans of Vanderpump Rules know that the Emmy-nominated show has been struggling for quite some time. The explosive bombshell of so-called Scandoval — which uncovered a months-long affair between Sandoval and former castmate Raquel Leviss, behind Madix’s back — sewed deep divisions amongst the group as the drama unfolded over seasons 10 and 11.
The understandably icy group dynamics came to a head in May, when Bravo confirmed that production on season 12 had been put on pause to give the cast “time to reset.” I guess the network took that “reset” rather literally, since the mass firing will result in an entirely new generation of Vanderpump Rules wait staff who, for what it’s worth, are likely just as messy as their predecessors. Before you get your social media stalking spyglasses out, we don’t know any details about who is in the new cast, when season 12 production will recommence, or when the new installment will arrive.
We do, however, have an official logline from Bravo about what the cast reboot will entail, with the network saying the series will return to its roots by following a group of “close-knit SUR-vers who are as complicatedly involved with one another as their iconic predecessors.” For her part, Vanderpump seems eager to welcome whoever it is that will walk through those infamous SUR doors, offering her “cheers to the next generation” while reflecting on “what a wild ride the last 11 years have been.”
Elsewhere, Madix said she is “forever grateful to have been a part of such an incredible cultural phenomenon,” and Kent praised how the “show changed my whole life.” Maloney, meanwhile, said she “wouldn’t change a thing,” and Schwartz shared a Friends-style compilation of the series’ best moments. Of course, Friends isn’t the best reference, since I don’t remember an episode being titled “The One Where An Explicit Affair Is Revealed And Tears At The Fabric Of Reality TV.”