The REAL Reason Bravo Fired Vanderpump Rules Cast!

You may have heard a little piece of reality TV news this week… the entire cast of Vanderpump Rules got fired! And now we’re getting more intel into why!

Bravo dropped the bombshell on Tuesday, revealing Ariana Madix, Tom Sandoval, Lala Kent, Tom Schwartz, Katie Maloney, Scheana Shay, and James Kennedy won’t return for Season 12. They are being replaced with a brand new cast — a group of “close-knit SUR-vers” from Lisa Vanderpump’s restaurants. This was obviously devastating to a lot of fans (and some of the stars). But let’s be honest, it wasn’t really a shock, was it?

Season 11 ended with a divided cast, leading the network to give the stars a long break instead of filming over the summer as they’ve done in the past. Obvi Ariana wants nothing to do with Sandoval — or anyone on his side. The Love Island USA host isn’t on great terms with Scheana these days either post-Scandoval. Katie stands in solidarity with Ariana and pretty much doesn’t interact with the Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras frontman. Lala has bad blood with most of the cast now, especially Ariana and Katie! It’s all a mess! You can’t film a show if no one will even speak or be in the same room as one another! Not unless you want a boring season! And of course, Bravo doesn’t want that!

Producers seemingly hoped the cast would calm down and work past their issues over the past few months — or at least get to a point where they could work together again. However, time did not heal all wounds. Things are still really bad between the cast members! Ultimately, that’s a big reason production decided to reboot VPR with a new group. According to a source for People on Tuesday, “there were so many factions” that Bravo felt they needed to move on and say goodbye to the old cast:

“There had been a long pause in production, and nothing had really changed among the cast since the reunion. Everyone was still stuck in their feelings and refusing to bend. The network felt there was no path forward with the group in that capacity.”

It’s disappointing, but makes so much sense. It wouldn’t have been a productive and interesting season to see the cast harp on the same issues or avoid each other like the plague.

We guess there really is a thing as too much drama for reality TV. Never would have guessed.

What’s more, the insider mentioned that “the group ties to SUR and Lisa were practically nonexistent” now since the cast no longer worked at her businesses — not like in the beginning. The whole premise of VPR during the early days was following the lives of her employees! But not so much in the past few seasons! At this point, the source explained that “it just didn’t make sense to continue” with them, and it was time to return to the original format:

“This is an attempt to recalibrate and bring the show back to the thing that made it such a success to begin with. It’s a fresh start, and the players they have are interested and motivated to participate. Fans will be happy with what they see. It’s going to feel like a return to form.”

We’ll see. Hopefully, fans will enjoy it and not be disappointed like some have been with the reboot of Real Housewives of New York City…

One important clarification? The decision to give the cast the boot did not come down to money. A second source insisted that was not the case — the network chose to recast the series before salary negotiations even began:

“It was completely driven by creative. There weren’t any negotiations happening between the cast and the network where money was even discussed.”

Hmm. Y’all buy that? On the one hand, money always matters. And there’s no doubt it’s going to be cheaper to pay for a brand-new cast than all of these longtime stars!

Of course, this could be a huge whiff, whereas paying even a much larger amount for the known and loved cast would have been a bargain… if they could make it work.

Ultimately, when Bravo told the cast about the reboot decision one day before the public found out, they were not “surprised” in the end. They had to have known in their gut it was coming if the network wasn’t negotiating with them! The first insider said:

“They’re understandably upset that it’s all coming to an end, but no one was necessarily surprised. It’s more relief that they finally have an answer.”

Now they can move on to other endeavors if they like! Perhaps DWTS? Someone needs to get producers on the phone for Scheana! LOLz! Or will she and a few others move on to another Bravo show?

Although we will no longer see the cast of Vanderpump Rules, that doesn’t mean their reality television careers are over! Lala, Schwartz, Scheana, and her husband Brock Davies will appear in the upcoming season of The Valley. Meanwhile, Sandoval is on the third season of The Traitors and Ariana is still the host of Love Island USA! So we will get to see the cast on our screens again! Plus, Bravo plans to host a retrospective special with the previous cast soon. The source added:

“The network isn’t closing the door on working with anyone in the future. They will always explore opportunities to bring these stars back to their screens.”

Again, there’s always The Valley! Or will Bravo finally listen to fans and give them the Something About Her spinoff featuring Katie and Ariana? You never know!

What are your thoughts on the VPR cast firing, Perezcious readers? Was it a smart decision from Bravo? Sound OFF in the comments.

[Image via Bravo/YouTube]