‘Vanderpump Rules’ Fans React to Cast Member’s Absence as Season 11 Filming Starts

Heavy/NBCuniversal "Vanderpump Rules" season 11 filming has started.

“Vanderpump Rules”  season 11 has officially started. Several stars, including Tom Schwartz, James Kennedy, and Lisa Vanderpump, were spotted filming scenes for the new season in West Hollywood on June 28, 2023.

But one veteran cast member was nowhere in sight. Four months after Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss’ cheating scandal rocked the Bravo reality show, Leviss has not officially signed on to the new season, despite previously telling host Andy Cohen in a season 10 reunion interview that she would like to come back, according to TMZ.

As her castmates began filming season 11, Leviss remained in an undisclosed mental health facility. A source for Leviss told Us Weekly that the 28-year-old beauty pageant alum “is currently in talks” about a  return to “Vanderpump Rules”  but  “hasn’t decided whether or not she wants to come back to the show.”

“Nothing has been confirmed yet other than the fact that she’s in negotiations about returning [to the show],” the insider said.

Leviss has been a cast member on “Vanderpump Rules” since 2017.

Fans Reacted to Raquel Leviss’ In-Limbo Status For “Vanderpump Rules” Season 11

According to TMZ’s report, all of the other main cast members for “Vanderpump Rules” are returning to season 11, but Leviss’ mental health treatment is her priority at this time. Producers and Leviss’ team are still “working hard to get her on the show,” the outlet confirmed.

While Leviss’ return would make for great reality TV, some fans think she should stay away.

In a Reddit thread, one viewer wrote, “I kinda hope Rachel doesn’t come back for her own mental health. Plus it would be sooo uncomfortable to watch her interact with Tom or any other cast member. I just wanna watch everyone move on.”

“I hope she gets help and doesn’t come back. I don’t want someone destroying their life for entertainment,” another agreed.

But others said they want to see former beauty pageant contestant make a return to the show. If only because Sandoval is out there not missing a  beat.

“I personally would like to hear from her again. I don’t love that Sandoval is out living his life and she’s stashed away in silence. It makes it feel like she’s taking the brunt of the fallout from both of their actions,” one commenter wrote.

“I agree, especially if he dumped her right after she blew up her life for him. … I can’t help but feel a little bad for her, hiding away while Tom is touring and out on dates. I hope she comes back just to turn on Tom, then spills even more. But I’m not sure who would actually film with her,” another wrote.

Others speculated that the delayed status update is all a ruse.

“Sorry but this just screams playing it up for continued ratings!! There is ZERO chance she wouldn’t come back. What else is she gonna do for $$, win fake beauty pageants??” one Redditor chimed in.

Some Co-Stars Don’t Think Raquel Leviss Should Come Back to “Vanderpump Rules”

Tommy Garcia/BravoThe cast of “Vanderpump Rules” season 10.

Several “Vanderpump Rules” stars have already said they will not film with Leviss or Sandoval for season 11. “No, [I will not film with them]. I have nothing to say to either of them,” Sandoval’s former girlfriend Ariana Madix told The New York Times in May.

Other co-stars have said that Leviss should not come back at all for her own sake.

On the final part of the “Vanderpump Rules” reunion, Leviss broke down while revealing the extended timeline of her affair, thus throwing Sandoval under the bus. Co-star Lala Kent told TMZ, “After watching last night when she had finally had the breakdown—just as a human, because for me, it’s a reality TV show—I feel like we’re all, kind of, playing the same game. But when I watched that, I was like, ‘Oh, we’re maybe dealing with someone who maybe shouldn’t be on this type of platform.'”

Scheana Shay even told Variety she thinks Leviss’ family will try to stop her from returning to the show. “I personally don’t see [Raquel’s] family allowing her to come back,” she said in June 2023.

Katie Maloney admitted that she doesn’t know how she will be able to film with Leviss or Sandoval based on some of her last interactions with them, but she reiterated that she never said she wouldn’t work with them.

According to Rolling Stone, during a guest spot at Stassi Schroeder’s “ The Mommy Dearest” your date at Los Angeles’ Theatre at Ace Hotel on June 24,  Maloney said she isn’t sure under what context she’d film with her former friends. “I’m not gonna be like, ‘Hey Rachel, I know the last time I spoke to you in the back alley of SUR I said I was so f***ing done with you, that was the last thing I ever said to you,’ so I don’t know how we bridge that gap,”  Maloney admitted. “And Sandoval also was telling my mom to shut the f*** up, so it’s not really up to me how we would bridge that gap, but I never said I wouldn’t film with them.”

“Vanderpump Rules” began filming on the same day Deadline reported that NBCUniversal is planning an eight-episode spinoff that would potentially feature former cast members Jax Taylor, Brittany Cartwright, Kristen Doute, and more. The new show will follow the friend group as they adapt to parenthood in The Valley.

READ NEXT: Fans Think Bravo Show as They Know It is Over