‘Vanderpump Rules’ season 12 with all new cast after Scandoval

It’s a rough week for the OG crew Vanderpump rules. First, Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz announced the closing of their namesake, Shwartz and Sandy’s, on Monday after just two years of being open. And now Bravo has turned on another season VPR – but this time with a completely new cast.

The network made the announcement Tuesday, teasing a return to the original format of the show that first put the series on the map 11 seasons ago. “Under the watchful eye of Lisa Vanderpump, West Hollywood mainstay SUR — and now TomTom — welcomes the next batch of servers, hosts and bartenders filled with plenty of drama, situations and frenemies,” the network said in a press release.

It’s unclear who the new “sur-vers” will be, but production for season 12 is set to begin next year. And from the sounds of it, not a single member of the current cast will be returning. “What a thrill it is to build on the legacy of this series by doing it all over again,” said Alex Baskin, executive producer. “With great appreciation for the original group and their iconic run, we can’t wait for audiences to watch a dynamic new group of colleagues and friends make their way through life together.”

Vanderpump added, “The last 12 years of filming has been an extraordinary run full of laughter, tears and everything in between. I can’t thank enough those who have shared their lives. How I love you all. In the restaurant business, change always gives way to another. Cheers to the next generation of Vanderpump rules.”

But before saying goodbye to the OGs — which included Shwartz, Sandoval, Scheana Shay, Katie Maloney, James Kennedy, Ariana Madix and Lala Kent — Bravo will air a retrospective special to “celebrate the past decade of heartbreak, friendship breakups and scandals .”

Although it is not overtly stated, it is beautiful obvious that the fallout from Scandoval led to this realignment. For those who are not fluent VPRSeason 10 ended with the revelation that Sandoval had cheated on his longtime girlfriend Madix with their friend and co-star Raquel Leviss. The affair took the internet by storm. Even casual reality TV viewers who weren’t caught up with the latest season of VPR found himself being sucked into the scandalous black hole. That was all anyone could talk about – except for the actual cast of the show. Season 11 largely centered around the affair, but Madix refused to film with Sandoval, completely changing the dynamic of the group and the way the show was filmed. By the end of the season, a clear line had been drawn in the sand.

After season 11, Bravo announced that the show was going on hiatus to give the cast some much-needed time off. But fans quickly began speculating that certain cast members refused to film together or talk about certain topics necessary to make a good reality TV show.

Of course, the question now becomes: Will some of the OG cast participate in other Bravo shows, e.g The valleywhich is basically a “more grown up” version of VPR? The valley already contains ex-VPR stars like Jax Taylor and Kristen Doute.

The future may be unclear, but one thing is certain: Sandoval — I mean Scandoval — really did them dirty.