Vanderpump Rules fans shouldn’t expect season 12 to be similar to past seasons.
During the Tuesday, June 10, episode of the “LadyGang” podcast, the Bravo show’s executive producer Alex Baskin teased how Vanderpump Rules has changed after recasting the show.
“We’re working on it. We’re excited. It’s back to our basic principles,” Baskin teased. “It’s a group of people who are really friends in their 20s and who work together and kind of do everything together.”
The overhaul allowed the network to start fresh. “It’s the low stakes but high intensity fun ride that I love,” Baskin teased. “And it bears very little resemblance to the original — other than obviously there’s SUR and Lisa [Vanderpump] presides over it. There’s that life phase again.”
Everything to Know About ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Season 12 After Cast Overhaul
The Vanderpump Rules franchise initially started in 2013 as a spinoff of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. From there, it grew into a pop culture phenomenon with largely the same cast season to season until Tom Sandoval‘s split from Ariana Madix due to his affair with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss called the show’s future into question.
Bravo originally put season 12 on pause after the cast ended up at odds following Scandoval. The network announced in November 2024 that an entirely new cast would take over after 11 seasons.
“The last 12 years of filming have been an extraordinary run full of laughter, tears and everything in between,” Lisa, 64, said in a statement at the time. “I can’t thank enough those who have shared their lives. How I love you all.”
Lisa said she was excited to usher in the show’s successors, adding, “In the restaurant business, one shift always gives way to another. Cheers to the next generation of Vanderpump Rules.”
Despite some backlash to the decision, Baskin is excited to see where the show goes from here.
“I love the fact that people are doubting us,” he admitted on Tuesday. “I love the skepticism. I want people to watch it and fall in love in spite of themselves. I think they will. There’s really big shoes to fill but it’s going great. So very excited to unleash that.”
Baskin also revealed how they approached casting the new iteration of Vanderpump Rules, saying, “On the one hand, you want people who want to be on the show and are willing to put it all out there. On the other hand, you don’t want people who are desperate or are trying to create a TV show. You want them to be in the moment, you want them to be real.”
‘Vanderpump Rules’ Cast: Then and Now
According to the producer, it was a long process.
“We have meetings with the group and we sort of figured it out. Plus in the first place, it’s a real friend group. So it’s people who are connected. So you get to know them better and it’s also a closed universe because we’re not just opening it up to the entire world,” he explained. “But I think that the group that we found is totally game to put it all out there. They have lived up to that.”
He concluded: “I also don’t think that they’re super fans of the original series in a good way. I think they all respect what they’re signing up for. But I don’t think any of them are trying to recreate the greatest hits. They work at SUR. So they’ve worked at SUR together for a while, which is great. It allowed us to zero in on a group that is intertwined in really fun ways.”
Vanderpump Rules is currently streaming on Peacock.
