Stassi Schroeder revealed the reason why she didn’t join the Vanderpump Rules spinoff series, The Valley, after starring in the original reality show for eight seasons. During a new interview, the 35-year-old explained she declined the opportunity because it’s “not [her] crew” of friends.
“It’s not Bravo’s fault,” she insisted while speaking with Jeff Lewis on his SiriusXM show on Wednesday, January 24. “Once this idea was brought up, and they were like, ‘OK, we’re going to film a sizzle with all the people that would be on it,’ every fiber of my being voted ‘no.’”
The model went on to add that she felt the show didn’t fit her lifestyle at the moment.
“First of all, it wouldn’t be a reflection of what my reality is,” Stassi explained, before adding, “Because, it’s just not my group of friends. … I’m friendly with some of them, I’m acquaintances with some of them. And some of the new ones, too, that I think are lovely. But it’s not my crew.”
Stassi concluded her explanation by noting that she doesn’t “want to disrupt the life that I have right now because I really like my life right now.”
In 2020, Stassi and her former castmate Kristen Doute were fired from VPR after the two reported the only Black star on the series at the time, Faith Stowers, for a crime she did not commit. Kristen, 40, briefly returned to the show in season 10 after Tom Sandoval’s affair with Rachel Leviss was unearthed.
As for The Valley, Bravo announced in June 2023 that the VPR spinoff project was starring Kristen, Brittany Cartwright and her husband, Jax Taylor. The series focuses on “a group of close friends as they trade bottle service in West Hollywood for baby bottles in the Valley, all while they navigate bustling business, rocky relationships and feisty friendships,” according to Variety. The network released a teaser for the series during the VPR season 11 premiere party on January 24.
While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter at the recent event, producer Alex Baskin explained why they decided to bring back fired stars.
“This is Jax Taylor adulting, and it’s what that looks like with obviously Brittany and Kristen, and then an entire new group of friends that we’re really excited to introduce,” Alex said. “It’s a lot of fun because I would say, just because they’re parents doesn’t make them necessarily any more mature or mean that they have it all figured out any more than this [VPR] group does.”