Katie Maloney Admits She Wanted To Leave VPR Ahead Of The Season 12 Reboot

The news that Vanderpump Rules was getting a total makeover, which included firing the entire cast and bringing in new ones for Season 12, seemed like the best thing to do for the Bravo show. A total reboot may have been heartbreaking news for devoted VPR fans, but the way Scandoval turned these cast members' lives upside down, it may have been best that the show was getting back to how it started.

VPR alums like Scheana Shay, Tom Sandoval, Lala Kent, and James Kennedy all shared tearful Instagram posts about how the show changed their lives. James shared how being on the show helped his "dreams finally come true" after his DJing career boomed, while Scheana expressed that she was glad for "everyone who checked in on me," as she had the roughest time with the news after having been part of the reality TV show since the very beginning.

Meanwhile, Katie Maloney felt that it was her time to go, even before the news that Season 12 was getting a reboot. She's not the only one that also thought it was time to move on from the VPR drama.

Katie Maloney Revealed She Was Ready To Move On From Vanderpump Rules

Katie Maloney got real on her Disrespectfully podcast when she addressed how she felt about saying goodbye to the Bravo show. Katie was an OG cast member, having worked at SUR restaurant as a waitress in Season 1.

Speaking to her co-host Dayna Kathan, Katie admitted, "You know—as well as many people close to me—I didn’t plan on returning."

She further detailed, "Maybe it doesn't matter at this point, but I had made the decision months ago after this past season. I mean, I just needed to move on with my life. And this is before we knew the show was gonna be put on pause, before any of that."

Dayna shared that she knew Katie had checked out right after an especially tough Season 11 reunion. Katie shared that she even spoke to producers about leaving ahead of Season 12, stating that she was "personally ready to move on."

"Mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, I was prepared to move on from the show."

She added, "I think it had been a long time ... I lived many lives and went through so much on that show, but I don't know. I don't know if I can live and grow and be the version of myself that I want to be on the show any longer." In addition, Katie understood why Bravo went ahead with a total reboot. The friend group was "fractured" and many of the cast members don't hang out with one another.

"As far as a cohesive unit, it doesn't exist anymore," Katie told her co-host.

Ariana Madix Admitted She Was "Relieved" When News Of The Season 12 Reboot Finally Came Out

It's not surprising to hear that Ariana Madix, who came onto VPR in Season 1 as a guest and then a main character in Season 3, was "relieved" when news hit that all the OG's got fired from the show. Ever since Scandoval, Ariana's career skyrocketed, and she really didn't need the show anymore.

Ariana had also seemed checked out after she refused to film with Tom Sandoval following his affair. It led to unresolved storylines and even the rest of the cast was frustrated that she wouldn't speak to her ex on camera. There was no point in filming the two stars any longer with no resolution in sight. And, as Katie put it, the friend group was terribly "fractured."

Speaking to Us Weekly, Ariana shared, "I was just relieved that the public finally was privy to the conversations that we had been having. So, it's nice that that news is out there yeah, now I don't have to sit here holding that."

Since Scandoval, Ariana was on Season 32 of Dancing With the Stars, starred in the Broadway musical Chicago, and hosted Season 6 of Love Island USA. In her same interview with Us Weekly, Ariana shared that she'd love to go back on Broadway. "I’m turning 40 next year in 2025, so I would love to feel that feeling," she shared.

And, Ariana doesn't see herself on the VPR spin-off The Valley like a few of her co-stars like Scheana Shay and Lala Kent, but she did tell the outlet that she hoped the new Season 12 VPR cast would use her Something About Her sandwich shop as a place to let drama unfold.

"If any of those kids next door at SUR want to pop into Something About Her and have a sandwich and have a little argument over some Cameron sandwiches and some Avaline wine, we’d love to have them," she said.

The Cast Has Moved On With Their Careers; No One Works At SUR Restaurant Anymore

The Season 12 overhaul will see a brand-new cast who are actually employees at Lisa Vanderpump's SUR restaurant. Season 1 of VPR saw the entire cast working in the lounge, with Katie, Kristen, Scheana part of the wait staff, while Tom Sandoval and Ariana were known for their bartending skills.

However, once these stars were thrust into the spotlight and gained more fame, they left their careers at the restaurant. In fact, only James Kennedy would make sporadic appearances at SUR when he would be asked to DJ an event.

It only made sense that the show would be rebooted as it was all about the workers at SUR and the drama that unfolded between them. Although Scheana seemed like the only cast member that really wanted at least one more season.

The OG's don't necessarily need VPR to survive. Most of them have made careers with their very successful podcasts:

• Scheananigans podcast run by Scheana Shay launched in 2018
• Give Them Lala podcast run by Lala Kent launched in 2020
• When Reality Hits podcast run by Brittany Cartwright and formerly Jax Taylor launched in 2023
• Disrespectfully podcast run by Katie Maloney and Dayna Kathan

In addition, some former cast members opened up their own businesses. Both Toms run their TomTom restaurant, which opened in 2018. They also were co-owners of Schwartz & Sandy's, but it closed after two years.

Thankfully for Scheana, she'll continue working on reality TV, for now. Along with Lala and Tom Schwartz, the three friends are set to star in Season 2 of The Valley.