Like many shows last year, Vanderpump Rules was left in production limbo due to the quarantine restrictions. But several of the most notorious castmates, like Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute, as well as a few newbies, became embroiled during the same time in various race scandals that saw them eventually fired by Bravo. Only a few months later, Jax Taylor and his wife Brittany Cartwright up and quit – claiming they wanted to focus on their newborn son and other “projects.” Now the show is finally set for its Season 9 return and Lala Kent has an admission about those former cast members.
Suffice to say, fans are excited by filming finally commencing for the ninth season of Vanderpump Rules. Apparently, though, Lala Kent has more complicated feelings about it. She joined on the show as James Kennedy's friend, alongside series regulars Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, and Jax Taylor back in 2015. But now at least half of last year’s cast is out. When asked what it was like filming without them during a Q&A on her Instagram stories, Kent said (via US Weekly):
It’s so weird. I miss them all very much.
The new dynamic this year on Vanderpump Rules of a smaller, less controversial cast could be weird for viewers as well. The drama usually picks up where it got left off and last year, Jax Taylor’s decades-long friendship with Tom Sandival looked done for good. Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute and Katie Maloney didn’t look too strong either. Lala Kent managed to maintain a mostly neutral position last season, but it was hard-won, considering how she has feuded with all her castmates over the years.
Lala Kent recently spoke out about Stassi Schroeder being fired from Vanderpump Rules. In her opinion, Bravo should’ve opted to keep her for another season and shown “what it was like to have to pay for all of these things she’s said and done in her past and basically lose everything.”
So far as we know, though, Bravo is leaving the past in the past and moving onto more family-friendly territory for Season 9 of Vanderpump Rules. James Kennedy, who recently got engaged to longtime girlfriend Raquel Leviss, thinks friendships that “didn’t see the light of day” before COVID-19 will be a focus. Meanwhile, Lala Kent and Scheana Shay both had their first babies in recent months. Apparently, the joys of motherhood are in store for viewers. Kent said to US Weekly about the new season:
We went from zero to a hundred real fast. It was like, ‘We’re drinking all the time, having the best day ever, to like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t go out tonight and I have to feed every two and a half hours.’ It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch.
It sounds more like Vanderpump Rules is going from 100 to 0 real fast. Though, Lala Kent also teased that there is “two years of, like, pent-up animosity.” I guess we’ll find out this fall who is the target of Kent’s own infamous animosity.
