Lala Kent Teases What to Expect After Vanderpump Rules Cast Shakeup

Lala Kent Ariana Madix Tom Sandoval

Getty Vanderpump Rules stars Lala Kent, Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval

Lala Kent said “Vanderpump Rules” fans will be “pleasantly surprised” by the new episodes, despite the major cast shakeup that has affected the upcoming ninth season of the Bravo reality show.

Following last summer’s firing of four cast members — including newcomers Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni, veteran stars Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute, and the subsequent exits of Jax Taylor, Brittany Cartwright, and Dayna Kathan — the surviving cast includes Kent, Tom Sandoval, Ariana Madix, Tom Schwartz, Katie Maloney, Scheana Shay, James Kennedy, Raquel Leviss,  Charli Burnett and Lisa Vanderpump. There will also be some new cast members, as previously teased by Vanderpump.

But with some of the biggest “Vanderpump Rules” veterans now out, some longtime viewers have expressed concern that the show won’t be the same.


Lala Kent Admitted She Was ‘Concerned’ About How Season 9 Would Look Without the Original Cast

Lala Kent (L) and Scheana Shay

GettyLala Kent (L) and Scheana Marie attend the “This Is LA” Premiere Party at Yamashiro Hollywood

In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, Kent said fans will be surprised by how the exits of her former co-stars are handled in the new season.

“I think that the viewers will be surprised,” she said. “Because even myself, someone who’s a part of the show going into it, I had my concerns…. I was very unsure about what it would look like and I just feel like we’re back to our roots.”

Kent noted that the show “lost amazing people” who brought “a lot of stuff” to the series.

“I think just what we gave and how everything was addressed, it was real life,” she said. “I think everyone’s going to be pleasantly surprised with how the season turned out.”

Kent noted that “it’s interesting” to see what happens “when you take people out of a group dynamic.”

She also confirmed that, despite some chummy cast photos that have turned up on social media since “Vanderpump Rules’ filming began in May, the cast members still have issues with one another.

“We’re definitely not getting along,” she said. “This is a very resilient group of people. We’re talking about people who have slept with each other’s boyfriends and they’re still best friends, so even though it looks like something from the outside, we’re a group of passionate people but we definitely have a bounce back.


Tom Sandoval Teased There Will Be Several ‘Firsts’ in the New Season of ‘Vanderpump Rules’

Tom Sandoval

GettyTom Sandoval of Vanderpump Rules.

Kent isn’t the only “Vanderpump Rules” star who is talking about the new vibe on the show.  In an interview with E! News’ Daily Pop, longtime cast member Tom Sandoval teased that there will be several never-before-seen things that take place on the new season.

“I can tell you guys that for Bravo this season, we have done three firsts this season that you have never seen on Bravo,” Sandoval told the outlet.

Sandoval’s girlfriend Ariana Madix told Us Weekly that the current “Vandeprunmp Rules” cast is tight-knit, and that there will be more “emotional moments” than ever.


Lisa Vanderpump Has Described the New Season as ‘Complicated’

GettyLisa Vanderpump

Even with pot-stirrers like Jax Taylor and Stassi Schroeder no longer on the show, the new season of “Vanderpump Rules” won’t be lacking drama.  Bravo queen bee Lisa Vanderpump told Entertainment Tonight that the season 9 cast did not hold back.

“We’ve lost a couple of people along the way, but we’ve still got a big cast of people that are very familiar with each other — sometimes a little too familiar,” she said.

Of the smaller cast size, the SUR owner added that the storylines will be “a little more focused.”

Vanderpump also told Bravo’s Daily Dish that some beasts were unleashed when the cast started filming again after being in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Some might be more mature, but definitely you feel that they’ve been locked up for a year, that’s for sure,” she said of the cast. “It’s already, like, complicated, and it’s all kicking off. And I’m like, oh, my God, I missed them all so much, but wow, yeah, it’s a lot. …Nobody does it like these kids. And they live their lives like that on-screen and off-screen. Everything’s, like, they make big statements, there’s big emotions, it’s complicated dynamics. It’s just a group of people that are very vocal and sometimes volatile.”

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