Lala Kent burst into tears while discussing why her exit from Vanderpump Rules reminded her of her father’s death.
“I’ve known that this was coming for a while. I think I knew the moment that I lost my s— at the finale of season 11,” Kent, 34, explained on the Friday, November 29, episode of former costar Scheana Shay‘s “Scheananigans” podcast. “It just felt very final to me.”
Kent recalled feeling that her time on Vanderpump Rules was up, adding, “There was nothing left to say. The story was done. And I think I’ve said that for quite a while. There’s no more story to tell with this group of people.”
While not directly comparing her departure to her dad’s passing, Kent admitted there was an unexpected emotional connection.
‘Vanderpump Rules’ Cast: Then and Now
“I’m not comparing this moment to the passing of my dad. But there was a moment in time where I remember being in a limo in Utah and it broke down on the freeway up to Park City,” she shared. “And I wanted to lose my s—. I remember looking at my dad and being like wanting to take my anxiety down because I’m like, ‘This is a moment that I want to remember because it’s funny.’ We’re in a white broken-down limo on the side of the road. I was like, ‘My dad’s not going to be here forever because he was having health issues.’ Then the call that was made where it’s like, ‘Dad’s gone.’”
Kent started to cry while reliving the news of her dad’s 2018 death.
“I’m not comparing the end of Vanderpump Rules to that. But I remember so many moments of us all having ups and downs and being like, ‘You guys, we’re in a f–ing great TV show,’” she continued. “This is wild. One day it’s going to be over. We’re not going to remember the bad. We’re just going to be so happy that it all happened. It’s not going to last forever.”
Vanderpump Rules got its start on Bravo in 2013 as a spinoff of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Kent joined in season 4 and remained on the show until the news on Tuesday, November 26, that season 12 would feature an entirely new cast.
“When [executive producer] Alex [Baskin] called me, I knew it was coming. But it was like, ‘Oh, we’re here.’ It doesn’t exist as it once did,” Kent noted on Friday. “And now I’m having the graduation effect. Where it’s like, you never want to go back to high school because it was a horrible time but there’s something that sinks in.”
Vanderpump Rules’ Lala Kent Through the Years
Facing the end of her time on Vanderpump Rules pushed Kent to appreciate the experience more.
“I feel this intense bond to my cast. They probably don’t feel the same way,” she quipped. “But I’m not remembering any of the bad. I’m only remembering the good. I’m thinking of myself as like a 24-year-old [who joined the show] in the craziest of worlds and then getting sober on the show. So much of my life has been documented.”
Kent preparing to say goodbye to Vanderpump Rules comes after a tumultuous final season. After season 11 picked up months after Tom Sandoval‘s affair with Rachel Leviss, Kent started out by siding with Sandoval’s ex-girlfriend Ariana Madix. The finale, however, took a turn when Kent put Madix, 39, on blast for refusing to film with Sandoval, 42.
The tension got even worse when producers had the cast watch the final moments together at the reunion.
“There’s one thing that I would have changed — and it wasn’t on camera. I wish that after the finale — after I lost my mind — that I would have called Ariana and said, ‘I want to let you know that I said some really, really hurtful things. It’ll probably be friendship-ending,’” Kent admitted on Shay’s podcast. “It was not my style. I can’t even believe that I didn’t do that because I’m so adamant about when I say things behind your back, I’m going to say it to your face.”
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Kent recalled continuing to be close to Madix once filming wrapped, adding, “I still supported her, all the while knowing that I said what I said. I think in my mind, I compartmentalized. I was like, ‘But that had to do with the show.’ I was angry at her for the show and I wasn’t even angry at her. I don’t regret saying what I said. I regret not giving her the heads-up.”
Madix, for her part, reacted to the Vanderpump Rules cast overhaul news as well without acknowledging any cast falling-outs.
“Vanderpump Rules, you will forever be that girl 
I was up til 4am looking for all the right pics and the right words, but there’s no post or caption that could ever encapsulate everything. I am forever grateful to have been a part of such an incredible cultural phenomenon,” Madix wrote via Instagram on Tuesday. “I’m feeling at peace with closing this chapter and im excited for everything that is to come.”
