Laura-Leigh Tibrina Hobson/WireImage
Vanderpump Rules alum Laura-Leigh is finally speaking out about her time on the show — starting with how much she was paid to appear on season 1.
“We were all working at SUR. I was a new hire. All of that was true,” Laura-Leigh, 33, recalled on the Thursday, January 2, episode of the “Vanderpump Rules Party” podcast. “I was not going to do the show because my agency said they would drop me if I did a reality show.”
Laura-Leigh said she “wouldn’t sign the rights” to let herself be filmed, adding, “By [that] time, they had shot so much. They couldn’t release the show without my signature, and I honestly thought — because I was naive — that this will never see the light of day. That’s what I thought.”
The former reality star ultimately agreed to appear because she needed the money.
Vanderpump Rules cast members have offered glimpses at how much they’ve earned during their respective tenures on the hit Bravo series. The topic of paychecks has come up in various circumstances over the years since Vanderpump Rules debuted in 2013. Following Raquel Leviss and Tom Sandoval‘s shocking affair behind Ariana Madix’s back — which came […]
“I couldn’t pay my rent. I’m a single woman doing it all on my own. I had my own apartment and my own car. No parental help, financially. Working endless jobs and auditioning and testing. Completely depleted,” she noted. “So I signed it so I could get $500 to pay the rest of my rent for that month. And that’s what I made off of the show.”
Laura-Leigh hasn’t received any additional payment associated with her time on the series, despite the show’s massive success.
Laura-Leigh and Jax Taylor on ‘Vanderpump Rules.’ Bravo
“No residuals. Nothing. And I had to go after them to get that $500,” she claimed. “The cast all got paid, I think it was $8,000 for the first season. Jax [Taylor] and everyone else got like $8,000. The only reason I know that is because that’s all the money Jax had to his name. And I was like, ‘Well, if they’re getting money, why can I get money?’ They were like, ‘OK, we’ll give you $500.’”
Viewers were introduced to Laura-Leigh when Vanderpump Rules premiered in 2013. During the first season, Laura-Leigh notably found herself in a love triangle with Jax, 45, amid his off-again, on-again romance with Stassi Schroeder.
Jax ultimately ended his relationship with Laura-Leigh after he accompanied her to an Alcoholic Anonymous meeting. Laura-Leigh told Lisa Vanderpump in the season 1 finale she was quitting her job at SUR because she booked a role alongside Jennifer Aniston in We’re the Millers. She has since appeared in The Client List, Blue Bloods, Under the Silver Lake and multiple short films.
Several Vanderpump Rules stars have stepped away from the Bravo series over the years. Cameras started following the staff at Lisa Vanderpump’s West Hollywood restaurant SUR in 2012 after she rose to fame on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Season 1 of Pump Rules, which premiered in January 2013, starred Lisa, Stassi Schroeder, Jax […]
“People were using your heart and your emotion and your reality [on Vanderpump Rules]. That’s not something I could do. It’s one thing when you’re acting,” she added on Thursday, referring to her time on the show. “When you’re dealing with real connections and relationships, I can’t be a part of the toxicity that was going on. And I was naive to all of it, obviously … And that’s the honest reason why I never went back.”
Laura-Leigh isn’t the only former castmate who has discussed her Vanderpump Rules paychecks. Kristen Doute previously revealed that she didn’t make much when she initially joined the show in season 1, either.
Laura-Leigh on ‘Vanderpump Rules.’ Bravo
“We had very little in our bank account,” Kristen said on an episode of her podcast in July 2023. “It was $5,000 and if we became a primary, we got an additional $5,000.”
Brittany Cartwright, meanwhile, recalled being “broke” when she first appeared on the show. “I didn’t get paid my first season of Vanderpump Rules — until the very, very end. I was broke,” Brittany, 35, who started appearing as a guest on season 4 when she met Jax, shared on the “When Reality Hits” podcast in August 2023. “It took a lot out of me.”
Jax recalled Brittany’s excessive spending before she made the move to Los Angeles.
“It was costing her. This is the beginning of the show and it was costing her $800 to $900,” he said, referring to Brittany flying in to see him while filming season 4. “She was in Kentucky [working at a bar and Hooters] and $800 is a lot of money [to spend on airfare].”
While speaking with Kristen about their original paychecks, Jax said he was just grateful to get paid, adding on the July 2023 podcast episode, “I had nothing at that time so whatever we got … [I felt like] I was rich. $5,000? I was paying $100 a week to live so I [thought] I could retire. When we were filming, I felt like, ‘This is awesome.’”
He continued: “I have been hustling my whole life and living paycheck to paycheck to paycheck. I would do a lot of jobs but by the time I got my paycheck I was so behind on my credit card bills.”
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