Ariana Madix ‘Never’ Planned to Return for Vanderpump Rules Season 12

Before Ariana Madix even heard late last year that Vanderpump Rules season 12 would feature a rebooted cast, she was ready to walk away from the franchise.

“I don’t think I was ever going to go back to Vanderpump Rules. That’s the first time I’ve ever said that publicly, but I was never going to,” Ariana, 39, told People in an interview published on Thursday, March 13. “It just didn’t feel right. Not in any sort of rude way, not in a professional, ‘We don’t need this,’ not in a ‘I’m too good for this’ [way,] but it just didn’t feel right.”

She continued, “If I did go back, I wouldn’t have been able to do the job that would make a good show. And so it just wasn’t going to make sense, the story didn’t make sense.”

Ariana further cited her mental health as one of the reasons she decided to walk away after season 11, which aired in 2024.

“I was never really made for reality TV. I don’t think I’ve ever been what makes ‘a good reality star,’” she told the outlet. “I think in some ways that’s what has made me a good reality star. But that being said, I think that a lot of times I got in my head.”

Ariana added, “I’ve also learned that maybe that’s not the best setting for me, and it’s not a setting that really allows me to be myself. And when you’re not being yourself, you get yourself into situations where you’re saying or doing things that you don’t really back or believe in.”

News broke in November 2024 that the next season of VPR would feature an all-new class of “close-knit SUR-vers” at Lisa Vanderpump’s Hollywood eatery. Per a press release from Bravo, the cast is “as complicatedly involved with one another as their iconic predecessors.”

In addition to Ariana, last season’s cast included Lala Kent, James Kennedy, Scheana Shay, Katie Maloney, Tom Schwartz and Tom Sandoval. (Ariana and Sandoval, 42, split during season 10 after he infamously had an affair with show alum Rachel “Raquel” Leviss.)

While Bravo has not revealed a premiere date or the casting lineup, Vanderpump, 64, is certain that the newbies will deliver plenty of drama.

“When you have a restaurant, especially in Hollywood, with a revolving door of beautiful people who are all kind of normally rather large personalities because they come to Hollywood for a reason, it’s always complicated,” Vanderpump exclusively told Us Weekly last month. “I am sure it’s gonna be very different with these young little minxes when they get to work, but we shall see.”

She added, “I got some very interesting characters for sure, but SUR has been around a long time, and as I say, it’s a show we could have shot 12 months of the year.”