The horse is dead, leave it alone, Rachel Leviss is not coming back and we know this. Vanderpump Rules Season 11 is coming in moderately warm after Rachel gave production the finger and decided not to film.
After Scandoval and the Red Wedding that was the Season 10 reunion, Rachel immediately checked herself into a mental health facility. She only kept in touch with Sandoval, until she didn’t, and Rach has no contact with any cast members. Now Alex Baskin says Bravo isn’t waiting on Rachel to return.
That door is closed – but Rachel closed it …
Alex is the EP of both VPR and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but Scandoval was probably the best thing to ever happen to his career. The drama might be over in real-time, but in TV time, it’s heating up.
Ahead of tomorrow’s premiere, Alex appeared on Scheana Shay‘s Scheananigans podcast and they discussed Rachel – because she was going to be the cash cow of their Season 11 content.
Alex said, “I didn’t know [whether] Rachel [would come back]. That was a wild card. We talked to her up until a certain point in the season. It really depended on the day.” He also implied even if she wanted to come back, Bravo might not be very welcoming. “I don’t see that happening,” Alex noted.
That said, you can’t tell me, the 7-11 cashier, or my cat Betty that if Rachel wanted back in, Bravo would say no. Ultimately Rachel decided not to return because she knew it would be a shit-show. “She had concerns about reintegrating into the group. We said, ‘We are here to support you and protect you.’ That may or may not make sense.”
“The right thing happened”
He continued, “I didn’t know how she would have been received,” he began. Um, yes you did, sir. “But I ultimately think the right thing happened. If she didn’t think it was right for her to come back then we didn’t want that on us. We are doing OK over here and hopefully she is doing OK.”
That didn’t stop certain members of the cast, like Lala Kent, from reaching out to Rachel. It definitely put a crimp in their plans for her to bail on future filming.
Once Rachel doubled down on not coming back, Bravo didn’t push. Allegedly. “We talked about anything and everything. We were open to whatever form it would take but it got difficult because we were so deep into the season. I didn’t exactly know how it would work,” Alex added.
Rach wanted equal pay to what Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval were receiving and that didn’t happen. She also wanted to be reimbursed for her mental health treatment.
“She had a very healthy offer in front of her. Our concern was whether it was the right thing for her anyway because at that point we weren’t sure. I thought it would have done well for her, I thought it would have been the right forum for her to tell her story. I felt good about it from that standpoint,” Alex said.
We’ll have to see what the cast can come up with on their own. Vanderpump Rules Season 11 premieres TOMORROW January 30 at 8 PM/ET on Bravo.
TELL US – WILL IT BE A GOOD SEASON WITHOUT CLOSURE FROM RACHEL?
