Katie Maloney revealed this week that she made the decision to walk away from Vanderpump Rules after the Season 11 reunion– months before Bravo announced that the show would be getting an entirely new cast for Season 12.
On Wednesday’s episode of her Disrespectfully podcast, Katie revealed to listeners that while “none of us OGs will be returning” in the upcoming season, she had already informed show producers back in spring that she was moving on from the reality series.
Katie claimed she made this decision before ‘Vanderpump Rules’ was “put on pause” in April and before the recent news of the Season 12 reboot was announced.
“ … I had talked to our producers about it and I told them my decision on that,” she recalled to podcast co-host and former ‘Vanderpump Rules’ cast member Dayna Kathan. “I mean, I felt personally ready to move on from the show.
“I felt like my life and where I was at was moving in a different direction,” she continued. “Mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, I was prepared to move on from the show. I was prepared.”
As The Ashley previously told you, the new cast of ‘Vanderpump Rules’ will feature staffers who currently work at SUR– the West Hollywood restaurant owned by Lisa Vanderpump where Katie and most of the OGs worked at some point during the first 11 Seasons of the Bravo series. While Katie and the rest of the OGs have moved on from waiting tables, hostessing and bartending, Katie said she felt that it was also time for her to move on from the show.
“I lived many lives and went through so much on that show,” she explained. “ … it just got to a point where I was just, I don’t know that I can live and grow and be the version of myself I want to be on this show any longer.”
As fans of ‘Vanderpump Rules’ know, Katie’s engagement, marriage and divorce from Tom Schwartz were documented on the series. Fans also watched as she and Ariana Madix developed the idea for, and eventually opened, their Something About Her sandwich shop.
“I learned a lot,” Katie said later in the episode. “I went through a lot being on that show. I mean, it was not always easy.”
Aside from personally being ready to move on from ‘Vanderpump Rules,’ Katie noted that it would have been difficult for the show to continue filming with the same cast due to many of the friendships within the group being “so fractured at the end.”
“ … Many of us don’t hang out,” she said. “I mean, yeah, there might be some people that talk to this person, or these people hang out, or these two hang out, but as far as it being a cohesive unit, it just doesn’t exist anymore. So I felt like what made ‘Vanderpump Rules’ made ‘Vanderpump Rules,’ and what people watched all those years didn’t exist anymore.”
Although Katie was prepared to say goodbye to ‘Vanderpump Rules’ anyway, she admits that the finality of the show “as we’ve known it” still feels “surreal.”
“ … Knowing that it’s just going to be no more, it’s final, it’s out there that it’s final, that it is done is still a weird feeling,” she said. “It is sad. It’s like that closing of a chapter is sad no matter what.”
Katie also insisted that the cast overhaul wasn’t in response to the OGs “demanding tons of money,” as she revealed that negotiations for Season 12 had not even been discussed yet.
“It wasn’t because people were demanding tons of money or scheduling [conflicts],” she said. “ … No one was negotiating any of that, that had not even been discussed or brought up, or no one was in any rooms negotiating anything, like, that money was of no subject.
“So, sorry to break it to anyone that’s out there,” she added. “ … I think the main thing was just that they just couldn’t make a show about these folks anymore.”
Katie noted that while she’s “interested to see how this reboot will be,” she believes it will be difficult to make the show “different and fresh.”
“I mean, you can take the same recipe and try to make the same product, but I don’t know … it might not taste as good,” she said.
RELATED STORY: SUR Manager Peter Madrigal Talks About Stars of ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Reboot; Opens Up About Potential OG Cast Spinoff & More
(Photos: Bravo; Instagram)
4 Responses
I don’t believe this at all. None of them are at a place to turn down easy money.
It’s great news Katie because your character lacked anything decent. You bullied most people and are just a morose, unhappy person. No one wants to see your sour puss or hear from you. Hope you enjoyed your 15 mins. of fame as it’s gone now.
F*** Katie. Didn’t have to read the article to know it is a fing lie. Go back to bed Katie and eat a few more bags of Freetos, never could stand her or her creepy mom.
Wow “anita” how catty. Would love to see your pic for a critique.