Vanderpump Rules will reportedly not film Season 12 in the next several months, veering off from its normal summer filming schedule.

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Tom Sandoval appeared to drop a bombshell that cameras will not be rolling for Vanderpump Rules this summer.

"I think one of the things is that, coming out of this scandal, it was like we picked up filming right when everything first happened," Tom explained of "Scandoval" during a Wednesday, May 1 appearance on Fox's New Day Cleveland.

"And then we kind of had a very short break and then went right into filming this season that you're watching now, Season 11."

Vanderpump Rules' eleventh season just premiered in January.

The "scandal" Tom was referring to was when he had cheated on his former girlfriend of nine years, Ariana Madix. Tom had an affair for about six months with Raquel Leviss, who had also starred on Vanderpump Rules and used to be Ariana's best friend.

After Raquel filmed Vanderpump Rules' Season 10 reunion, she entered a treatment facility to check her mental health in April 2023 amid backlash over the affair.

Tom explained that "what would end up happening" is "production would just be down [after] the last episode of the season, the reunion, then our secrets revealed, or whatever it is, would air and then it's maybe a couple weeks and we would be back into filming again."

But the cast will receive a much-needed break if Vanderpump Rules postpones filming for a while.

"They just want to give it some time to breathe, take a break, maybe -- I mean, I'm really excited about it," Tom gushed.

"Because it's like every year we film my birthday. We film [Scheana Shay]'s birthday at times or whatever. To kind of have a different time of the year, it might bring a fresh sort of feeling to our show."

Ariana's gig as the host of Love Island's sixth season also may have played a role in Vanderpump Rules delaying its shooting schedule, Us Weekly reported.

Bravo has yet to confirm that Vanderpump Rules will definitely return with a twelfth season, but Tom made it seem like a done deal.

Prior to Tom's revelations, multiple outlets had reported that Bravo was shaking up its shooting schedule and planned to take a hiatus following Season 11.

But Vanderpump Rules, up to this point, had filmed during the summer for an entire decade. Production typically started in May and ran through June or July each year.

Vanderpump Rules' latest spinoff, The Valley, will likely film this summer instead, according to Deadline.

Andy Cohen discussed Vanderpump Rules' reported production change during the May 1 episode of his Andy Cohen Live show on SiriusXM.

"We used to do this all the time with the Housewives. We would say, 'You know what? Let's put cameras down for, you know, four or five months and come back to them.' And they will have lived, you know, life," Andy explained, according to Us.

Andy added how Vanderpump Rules fans probably "forget" about how the show extended production once Tom's affair with Raquel behind Ariana's back made headlines in March 2023 and rocked the entire cast.

"People forget that we picked up cameras a few, three months after [Ariana] found out about [Tom]'s affair, so that's why she's still in the violently angry stage and you can understand that," Andy said, adding how it was "great" to tape the aftermath of the scandal but now the drama has come and gone.

"Sometimes you do want people to live their lives and see how things develop and you know, so, I think it's a very good idea."

Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent reportedly said during an Amazon Live session on April 23 that she was having a "hard" time with all the backlash and negativity and so she thought it would be "best" to stay away from it all.

Lala, who is expecting her second child, admitted she's been avoiding "anything to do with Bravo or this season" to help her relax and "enjoy" her pregnancy.

"I love Bravo and I love NBCU, and I love Vanderpump Rules and I love all of you guys. But this is a really important time in my life, and I will be damned if anybody tarnishes or gives me memories of it not being a beautiful time in my life," Lala reportedly said, adding that there are things she does not "want to see" or "know about" on the show.

Raquel did not star on Vanderpump Rules' eleventh season.

When asked if she had a future on the Bravo reality series in August 2023, Raquel said "hell no" during an episode of Bethenny Frankel's "ReWives" podcast.

"I refuse to not respect myself on that level where I would endure that emotional abuse any longer," Raquel vented. "And I can't do that to myself."

Raquel said "of course" Vanderpump Rules producers wanted her back, but she apparently had a "no contact policy with every single cast member."

Raquel also shared how salary negotiations with Bravo were not in her favor. She alleged that Bravo was not willing to pay her "equally" to Tom and Ariana.

"I was considering going back if I was going to be paid equally, because I feel like when you pay your employees, it really shows how much you value them," Raquel said at the time.

Lisa Vanderpump previously told TMZ that she believes Raquel was paid $361,000 for Season 10, but Us reported that people who have starred on the show for a longer period of time earn more.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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