Lisa Vanderpump Reveals Why Bravo Is Rebooting ‘Vanderpump Rules’: It’s Become ‘Too Contentious’

Lisa Vanderpump revealed why Bravo decided to reboot Vanderpump Rules with a new cast during an exclusive interview with In Touch.

“We’re going back to the grassroots of where Vanderpump Rules started. I think when I say it kind of took on a different direction because we followed the characters, it was wonderful,” Lisa, 64, exclusively told In Touch about the reboot at Pinky’s by Vanderpump at the Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas. “And I can’t minimize how successful it was and how much I love the cast. But I think it’s become almost too contentious between the group to really have some kind of natural cohesion.”

Lisa added that she was “hopeful” the original cast could continue starring on the show, though she thinks that they “told the story” they set out to tell and will continue to be “in touch with them.”

Meanwhile, Lisa also teased what fans can expect from the new cast. “There’s many people that are going to want to work at SUR now. Now they know that we’re casting again,” she explained. “But everybody has to authentically work there and have to actually be, you know, qualified to do the job. Otherwise, it doesn’t work.”

“We can’t just have people that want to be reality stars. But we have an existing group in there already that, you know, are young and forthright and have different opinions. And that’s always the fascinating thing to watch. What I like about this show is that it does have a nucleus,” Lisa said. “It’s just not random people, you know, that kind of meet up and you think, ‘Well, if they don’t like each other, why are they together?’ But when you have a business that people have to be there, then they’re forced to kind of express their opinions.”

News that the longtime Bravo show was getting a new cast for season 12 was revealed on November 26. The new season will follow the show’s original formula of giving a behind-the-scenes look at the many restaurants that Lisa owns. According to TMZ, the show’s current stars – Tom Sandoval, Tom Schwartz, Ariana Madix, Scheana Shay, James Kennedy, Katie Maloney and Lala Kent – were told about the decision one day before the announcement was made.

While speaking to In Touch, Lisa said that she believes the original cast “knew” about the recasting decision because the show was “on a hiatus for a while.”

“I kind of saw where Bravo [was] coming from. I’m not always, you know, totally confident of their decisions,” Lisa continued. “I think they were thinking they wanted to go back to what the show was originally.”

In addition to discussing the new era of Vanderpump Rules, Lisa also spoke to In Touch about her latest restaurant, Pinky’s by Vanderpump. “It is a labor of love, for sure,” she said about the career venture, adding that she sometimes gets “all the credit” despite working with business partner Nick Alain to open the restaurant.

“We were just having a conversation about that with Caesars. And I was like, ‘This is very much a joint effort.’ I mean, it’s two of us. We really put our hearts and souls into it, and it’s exhausting to really just two of us come up with all these different projects,” she shared. “But I think we have such a passion for design and every detail. And we have a great team around us. So, it’s wonderful to have all these talented people around.”