Stassi Schroeder Reveals Why She Didn’t Return to ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Before Scandoval

Stassi Schroeder is opening up about an opportunity she had to return to Vanderpump Rules.

“It was right after I announced my second book, Off With My Head, and I was asked by a producer to come back and I had to really think about it,” Schroeder, 36, shared on the Tuesday, October 1, episode of the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast. “We kind of argued about it.”

When Schroeder walked into the meeting, she was ready to say no because she had already seen the positive reaction to her latest book. As she explained, “I could keep going and doing it on my terms.”

In an unexpected plot twist, however, Schroeder discovered the producer didn’t even have official approval for her return to the show. As a result, she never made it back on the Bravo series before Scandoval happened.

“It was a really messed up situation, but it was a mind f---,” she said before expressing gratitude that she didn’t have to be in the middle of Tom Sandoval and Rachel Leviss betraying Ariana Madix. “[I] can’t imagine filming with Tom Sandoval.”

Schroeder rose to fame on Vanderpump Rules, where she was a cast member for eight seasons until she was let go in June 2020. (Bravo announced at the time that they had cut ties with Schroeder and other cast members for their past racially insensitive remarks.)

After leaving the show, Schroeder married Beau Clark in a backyard bash in September 2020. They now have two children: daughter Hartford, 3, and son Messer, 12 months.

Fans of the former Bravo star will be able to see her on the small screen again in the future. In August, Hulu announced that Schroeder is joining the season 2 cast of Vanderpump Villa as part of a larger deal including her own show, Stassi Says. The half-hour docucomedy is currently in development.

“It’s something that has been a part of my life since I was, like, 16,” the You Can’t Have It All author said about returning to reality TV. “It’s always been something that I did, so of course it was always on my mind.”

When not writing books, hosting her own podcast or raising kids, Schroeder said she is still sneaking in time to watch The Valley, a spinoff of Vanderpump Rules.

She also continues to maintain friendships with some of her former costars, including Lala Kent, Katie Maloney and Scheana Shay.

“So much time has passed,” she explained. “I’ve been out of their filming world for so long, and when they’re not in their filming world, everyone is a lot more relaxed and normal. I don’t have that constant fighting or whatever.”