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The news of the Vanderpump Rules reboot is beginning to settle for most fans of the series. This is especially the case as many of the fan favorites will appear on The Valley. However, now Lisa Vanderpump is opening up about why the reboot was needed, how the new cast will be different from the OGs, and which of the now former cast members she’d like to continue working with.
As viewers know, season 11 of Vanderpump Rules got pretty contentious following the cheating scandal heard around the world. Many of the cast members didn’t want to work with one another, and fans also felt that the producers wanted to push a more positive narrative regarding Tom Sandoval, which they felt was undeserved. Now, fans will have to get to know a new group of people when the show returns.
Recently, Lisa sat down for an interview with InTouch Weekly where she discussed the reasoning for the reboot. Essentially, she says that they’re taking the show back to its original premises.
The former RHOBH alum explained, “We’re going back to the grassroots of where Vanderpump Rules started. I think when I say it kind of took on a different direction because we followed the characters, it was wonderful.”
She then added that issues with the cast also came into play. According to Lisa, “And I can’t minimize how successful it was and how much I love the cast. But I think it’s become almost too contentious between the group to really have some kind of natural cohesion.”
Lisa also said that she had been hopeful that the show could work with the former cast members. However, she’s satisfied and feels that they told the story that they needed to tell. She also says she plans to keep in touch with them.
Regarding the new cast, she explained, “There’s many people that are going to want to work at SUR now. Now they know that we’re casting again. But everybody has to authentically work there and have to actually be, you know, qualified to do the job. Otherwise, it doesn’t work.”
Lisa went on, “We can’t just have people that want to be reality stars. But we have an existing group in there already that, you know, are young and forthright and have different opinions. And that’s always the fascinating thing to watch. What I like about this show is that it does have a nucleus.”
She then added, “It’s just not random people, you know, that kind of meet up, and you think, ‘Well, if they don’t like each other, why are they together?’ But when you have a business that people have to be there, then they’re forced to kind of express their opinions.”
Lisa also discussed Bravo’s role in the reboot by saying, “I kind of saw where Bravo [was] coming from. I’m not always, you know, totally confident of their decisions. I think they were thinking they wanted to go back to what the show was originally.”
Lisa also spoke to E News about the reboot and gave a message to the fans about what may be in store. She said, “I think everything we do is going to have a different energy to it. Not gonna try and compete with the old Vanderpump Rules. It’s just gonna be totally different there. Still, we’ll go back to the premise of the complications of running a restaurant and the staff in it. And that always has a story to tell.”
Lisa then said, “It was time to do something different. Stories were kind of closing up a little bit. I think people, they weren’t that shocked that we decided to do this now.”
Still, she insists she will “miss the whole group.”
However, it seems there is at least one OG that Lisa wants to continue working with. She told Parade, “I would like to see Tom Schwartz more involved in TomTom again. I think that is a brand that maybe we could develop. It took a few hits through Scandoval, through COVID, for sure. But it is still alive and well, and I hope Tom Schwartz comes through this, licks his wounds, and goes on to fight another day.”
Fans can watch old episodes of Vanderpump Rules on Peacock.