The Vanderpump Rules cast was apparently left in the dark about the Season 12 casting shakeup until the last minute.

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Bravo announced November 26 it has ordered a twelfth season of Vanderpump Rules and that the show is going to star Lisa Vanderpump and a brand-new group of "close-knit SUR-vers who are as complicatedly involved with one another as their iconic predecessors," according to the network.

A source told Us Weekly that the former cast "found out about the future of VPR" only one day earlier.

The source revealed that "everyone knew something was coming, but to the extent of a reboot no one really knew."

Season 12 of Vanderpump Rules will follow Lisa as she continues to oversee the West Hollywood mainstay SUR -- and now TomTom -- and welcomes the next batch of servers, hosts and bartenders, who come with their own "drama, situationships and frenemies."

Vanderpump Rules' eleventh season wrapped in Spring 2024, and while the show typically films each summer, Season 12 was postponed.

During a May appearance on Fox's New Day Cleveland, longtime cast member Tom Sandoval suggested that the cast was a little burnt out after "Scandoval," which was the scandal in which Tom 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. The affair created rifts and tension amongst the Season 11 cast.

Some of the stars were reportedly angry at Ariana for refusing to film with Tom after their split, but other cast members wanted nothing to do with Tom.

"I feel like we still have a lot of story to tell," Tom told Us in November when asked about the show's future.

"[But] it's not up to me. I'm not the [executive producer]. I'm not the network. I'm hopeful it continues on. We're just going to wait and see what happens."

Season 12 of Vanderpump Rules is set to begin production in 2025, but its premiere date and new cast will be announced at a later date.

Many former Vanderpump Rules cast members had expressed interest in returning to the show; however, the reboot was reportedly not a big surprise to them considering no one was recently in negotiations with Bravo, the magazine reported.

"What a thrill it is to build on the legacy of this series by doing it all over again," executive producer Alex Baskin said in a statement on November 26.

"With profound appreciation for the original group and their iconic run, we can't wait for the audience to see a dynamic new group of co-workers and friends make their way through life together."

Vanderpump Rules premiered its first season as a spinoff of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2013.

Season 1 of the series starred Tom, Jax Taylor, Katie Maloney, Kristen Doute, Scheana Shay, and Stassi Schroeder.

As the show progressed, Vanderpump Rules added more cast members to the crew -- including Arian, Brittany Cartwright, Lala Kent, James Kennedy, and Tom Schwartz.

Vanderpump Rules sparked the spinoff show, The Valley, which premiered earlier this year.

Several former cast members reacted to Vanderpump Rules' relaunch on social media.

"It's a mixed bag. But I wouldn't change a thing," Katie, 37, wrote via Instagram Stories last week, before adding, "Thank you for the memories and the love the last 11 years."

Ariana wrote on Instagram, "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."

And Jax joked about how the OG cast of Vanderpump Rules should now be available to film more cameos on The Valley.

"This isn't goodbye ... more like ... see ya soon .... on MY show -- but for real this time #TheValley @bravotv," he wrote via Instagram.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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