Lisa Vanderpump is ready for new beginnings at SUR.
Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at a media brunch following the grand opening of her newest restaurant, Pinky’s by Vanderpump, in Las Vegas on Dec. 6, the Bravo star, 64, dished about the recent Vanderpump Rules cast shakeup.
“I always say expect the unexpected when we talk about Vanderpump Rules, for sure,” the reality star told PEOPLE.
“When you put a group of young people together and there’s this nucleus — the restaurant — so they basically have to work together. It’s always fractious, it’s always complicated,” she said.
VANDERPUMP RULES — Season:7 — Pictured: (l-r) Lala Kent, Stassi Schroeder, Tom Sandoval, Kristen Doute, Ariana Madix, Lisa Vanderpump, Tom Schwartz, Katie Maloney-Schwartz, Jax Taylor, Brittany Cartwright, James Kennedy — (Photo by: Tommy Garcia/Bravo)
Her comments came after news broke that Bravo would be starting season 12 of the hit television series with all-new faces after the network decided to nix the original cast fans grew to love as staff at Vanderpump’s West Hollywood restaurant.
“So yeah, I think we’re going back to the grassroots and a different set of people is kind of new and refreshing,” Vanderpump told PEOPLE. “I think we’ve laid out the last 11 years, I’m not minimizing the importance of how successful they’ve been and how wonderful they were as reality stars as they came into it really green and then they kind of ran with it. So we’ll see. But I try not to ever disappoint.”
That doesn’t mean the mogul has completely parted ways with her chosen family of more than a decade.
Tom Schwartz, who was a familiar face since the start of the show before becoming a full-time cast member in season 3, attended the grand opening of Pinky’s. Peter Madrigal was also present.
Denise Truscello/Getty
During an appearance on The Domenick Nati Show earlier this month, the SUR manager, 40, claimed he would be the only original cast member returning for the reboot.
“The one that’s still there is yours truly,” Madrigal said during his interview.
Bravo did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for confirmation at the time, but the network typically does not comment on casting.
Tommy Garcia/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Vanderpump Rules’ original cast consisted of Stassi Schroeder, Jax Taylor, Kristen Doute, Scheana Shay, Tom Sandoval and Katie Maloney. Others like Ariana Madix and James Kennedy came in later seasons.
Vanderpump told Entertainment Tonight in an interview published on Tuesday, Dec. 10, she already has her new SURvers selected.
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“I have an existing group,” she said. “But there’s always room for people because it’s West Hollywood. It’s always people coming through the door, ‘Can I have a job?’ ”
She added she’s aware that being a server is “not their primary ambition,” but more so “to be on Vanderpump Rules.”
Production for season 12 of Vanderpump Rules is set to begin in 2025.
