Vanderpump Rules‘ new spinoff, The Valley, featuring Jax Taylor, Brittany Cartwright, and Kristen Doute, is set to premiere this spring on Bravo. But there’s one face we won’t be seeing — Stassi Schroeder.
The former reality star, who appeared on the show from 2013 to 2020, was let go following an alleged racist incident with a Black cast member. She wasn’t the only VPR cast member shown the door, though. Kristen was also fired, along with Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni.
Now that the dust has settled (has it, though?), Bravo is welcoming Kristen back with open arms. Stassi recently revealed on SiriusXM’s Jeff Lewis Live that she was approached to do the show too, but decided against it due to lifestyle differences.
Stassi said NO to Bravo
When Bravo revealed the cast of their new show, The Valley, everyone, including Jeff Lewis, wondered, “Where the f*ck is Stassi?” Once fans noticed she and her husband Beau Clark wouldn’t appear with their two children, a holy indignation began to stir among watchers.
Then, Stassi clarified that it was her choice not to return, not the network’s. “It’s not Bravo’s fault,” she said, to which Jeff replied, “It’s not Bravo’s fault at all. It’s your fault. You turned it down.”
Stassi revealed she was asked to film the “sizzle reel” — a rough draft of the pilot episode producers pitched to Bravo.
“Yeah, so once this idea was brought up and, they were like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna film a sizzle with all the people that would be on it. Will you be on it and film the sizzle?’ and every fiber of my being voted no, like truly,” the Basic Bitch author explained.
Why did Stassi turn down The Valley?
It’s been some time since we’ve seen Stassi on TV. And if her return is on your 2024 wish list, go ahead and cross it off. When asked why she wasn’t interested in joining this social circle of Hollywood friends, she didn’t hesitate to speak up.
“It’s a lot of different reasons. First of all, it wouldn’t be a reflection of what my reality is,” she said. “I’m not friends with any, you know, it’s just, it’s not my group of friends.”
She later clarified that she’s “friendly” with some of her ex-co-stars, like Katie Maloney, Lala Kent, Tom Schwartz, and Scheana Shay. “I’m acquaintances with some of them, and some of the new ones too, I think are lovely, but it’s not my crew.”
Most fired Bravo stars would jump at the opportunity to film again. (Even if that requires faking friendships for a storyline.) A Bravo check is nothing to flinch at. But this time around, Stassi wasn’t motivated by money.
“I don’t want to have to go and do things that I normally wouldn’t do. I don’t want to disrupt the life that I have right now because I really like my life right now. Well, when they filmed the sizzle, I was still friends with everyone, and I still was like, ‘No.'”
“I’m just, my life is not the way that it used to be. I’m not in this group. I don’t have time to just be in this group of friends that goes out all the time and gets to do whatever they want.”
After suggesting that The Valley could’ve had a different “vibe,” Stassi replied, “It’s not.”
“I know what they do on a regular basis, and that’s not what I do.”
The Valley is set to premiere in the Spring of 2024.
TELL US — DID YOU WANT TO SEE STASSI ON THE VALLEY? ARE YOU SURPRISED SHE DIDN’T WANT TO RETURN?
