Lala Kent starred on Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules” for eight seasons, but she and her longtime costars, including Tom Sandoval, Ariana Madix, Katie Maloney, Scheana Shay, and Tom Schwartz, had mixed feelings when they learned the show would be rebooted for season 12 with an entirely new cast of SUR employees.
Since its official premiere, fans and former VPR stars alike have weighed in on the new, fresh faces bringing the drama at Lisa Vanderpump’s West Hollywood establishment, including Kent. In fact, she sat down with one of its breakout stars to talk all things VPR season 12.
Lala Kent Shares Her Honest Take on the VPR Reboot With Season 12 Star Natalie Maguire
BravoOn her “Untraditionally Lala” podcast, reality star Lala Kent sat down with “Vanderpump Rules” season 12 star Natalia Maguire to talk all things fresh and new in the Bravo reboot. During their conversation, Kent gave her honest take on how she feels about the retooled show after watching its first two episodes, which first aired Dec. 2.
Although Kent didn’t have much to go on with just a couple of episodes, she certainly believed that this group of SUR employees was already bringing original and authentic drama to the beloved series.
“Honestly, when I watched the first episode, it was definitely freaking weird,” Kent began.
“I think that you guys did a really great job of carrying a first episode,” Kent told Maguire. Kent went on to praise Maguire for helping deliver a strong premiere despite sharing that some fans assumed that this new cast was forcing drama in an attempt to match the original VPR cast.
Kent went on to praise the show for being “authentic” and “real.”
“Two things that I have noticed where I go, ‘Oh, this show is going to be really [expletive] good,'” Kent said to Maguire before adding what she witnessed in the premiere episode: “The security cam footage of you losing your [expletive] in SUR. You were making a fool of yourself; it was so real and authentic. That shows me that you guys were not putting on for the cameras.”
Kent also shared that she appreciated how the drama on screen continued naturally off camera, with Maguire bringing “text messages and receipts of Demy [Selem] like, you guys having a back and forth.”
“Cameras are fully down right now, but [expletive] is still popping off,” she shared, adding, “Oh my gosh, ‘Vanderpump Rules’ is alive and well.”
Later in the podcast, Maguire revealed that her feud with Selem, sparked by their connection to a much-older SUR employee named Paulo, is still ongoing, even sharing private texts with Kent to prove it!
Kent Had Never Met the New Season 12 Cast
BravoKent’s opinion on the retooled “Vanderpump Rules” was genuinely honest, and she made it clear she wasn’t hyping up the reboot simply because she used to star on the show. In fact, Kent had previously shared that she had never met the new SUR employees featured this season, underscoring that her thoughts were based solely on watching the series.
“I don’t know any of the cast,” she told E! News in October. “I will say I’m very excited for them, because I know that feeling of being on TV for the first time. It’s very fun. I’ve heard that it’s gonna be amazing.”
She continued, “You cannot teach the art of reality TV. Even if you’ve watched it, you can tell when someone’s been watching reality TV and they try to bring those iconic moments. I’ve heard this cast is so authentically themselves and there’s not a lot of self-awareness, which is freaking awesome.”
“When it comes to filming a reality show, you want them to not know the cameras exist and I’ve heard that that’s what’s happening,” she shared.
