It’s hard to believe that Vanderpump Rules Season 11 concluded almost four months ago, and we’re still awaiting word on Season 12.
The hit Bravo reality series was still a ratings winner earlier this year, but producers felt that the show needed a breather to pick up with the cast at a different point in their lives.
It was the first season to air after Scandoval, and viewers were over the scandal by the time it premiered, so it makes sense.
However, recent reports have indicated that the show won’t ask any of the long-running cast members back and will instead focus on staff who still work for Lisa Vanderpump.
Over the last few seasons, many cast members have become too big for the show, and the initial premise of a group of twentysomethings working for LVP is long gone.
In theory, a reboot would be a great way to inject some life into the show because younger people wouldn’t be as image-conscious as the current crop of stars.
Vanderpump Rules stars have moved to the spinoff
Plus, Lala Kent and Scheana Shay have already joined the spinoff series The Valley, so it’s not like the show’s most prominent personalities will be left without a platform should producers take a different approach.
Recent reports indicate that producers chat with people who work for LVP in her bars.
However, OK! Magazine has revealed that a reboot is not happening.
“Producers are always feeling the people who work at Lisa’s restaurants out to see who is friends with the current cast, who may gel with the cast, and who may have something new to add that the viewers would find interesting,” a source dished to the outlet.
The source hints that the current cast is the draw and compared it to The Real Housewives of New York.
The Big Apple-set reality series was famously rebooted in 2023 with an entirely new cast, and the show struggled in the ratings.
“Fans would not be invested in the new peoples’ lives and the show would likely go belly up in ratings,” the source maintains.
Rebooting Vanderpump Rules could save the series
While a reboot would be a great way to make the show watchable again, it risks alienating the fans who have been invested in the cast’s lives for over a decade.
The series was put on ice earlier this year, and there’s no telling when the cameras will return.
Typically, the next season is well into production by this point in the summer, but many of the cast are keeping busy without other endeavors.
Tom Sandoval filmed The Traitors and is rumored to be joining Dancing With the Stars, while Ariana Madix hosted Love Island USA and starred on Broadway as Roxie Hart in Chicago.
As we said, the cast is keeping busy.
Vanderpump Rules is on hiatus at Bravo. Seasons 1-11 are available to stream on Peacock.