Just because Vanderpump Rules is revamping doesn’t mean reality TV viewers should stop raising their glasses high.
While viewers spent 11 seasons watching Scheana Shay, Katie Maloney, Tom Schwartz and more cast members transform from restaurant workers at SUR to reality TV royalty, Bravo recently confirmed season 12 will feature a brand-new cast from Lisa Vanderpump’s West Hollywood establishment.
As the cast — and fans — continue to mourn the end of an era in reality TV, Southern Hospitality may have all the ingredients necessary to satisfy the Vanderpump Rules void.
“I definitely think it could be a great void,” Southern Hospitality star Leva Bonaparte exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, December 5 ahead of the show’s season three premiere. “I always say that I think it’s sort of the love child of a Below Deck and Vanderpump because the club is so vastly different from a restaurant. It’s not like we’re a lounge. We are a full-fledged nightclub.”
Southern Hospitality follows a group of staff members working at Leva’s Republic in Charleston, South Carolina.
Cameras roll as the group of young adults navigate dynamic friendships, stressful nights at work and plenty of relationship drama.
While Vanderpump’s cast became red carpet regulars as they grew up in Los Angeles and became parents and spouses, Leva’s group of workers tend to stay in the small town of Charleston and live their best lives as they navigate their 20s.
“I think with these kids, they just don’t give a s—,” Leva shared about her staff that promise to share their whole lives for the show. “They’re like, ‘The president is a reality TV star. There’s no limit to what I can do. If I want to shake my tits and ass on TV or say something crazy, I can do whatever. There’s no glass ceiling for me.’ They’re very authentic.”
They also are good at their jobs. While later seasons of Vanderpump Rules tended to have story lines leak in the press, there is still plenty of mystery surrounding season 3 of Southern Hospitality.
“The dynamic definitely switched a lot in comparison to seasons one and two,” cast member Bradley Carter cryptically told Us at Us Weekly + Pluto TV Reality Stars of the Year Party at Hollywood’s Dream Hotel in October. “Season three is a lot different. Relationships change, friendships change, people change.”
While Bradley said he “found the right mix of staying out of the way, but having a voice,” his close friend and costar couldn’t exactly say the same.
“Bradley does a better job than I do,” Republic bartender TJ Dinch joked at the event without revealing too much. “We had a good summer, but it was a hard summer. It’s sad the way some things played out.”
Because the cast can keep a juicy story line under wraps, viewers are later treated to unexpected mess when the show actually airs — and this cast knows mess!
Despite a bumpy friendship in the first two seasons of Southern Hospitality, and recently decided to have a shotgun wedding in Las Vegas. The moment was kept top-secret until the trailer for season three debuted in November.
The changing relationship may remind some fans of Tom Sandoval and Kristen Doute’s unpredictable love story or Jax Taylor and Stassi Schroeder’s wild romance in earlier Vanderpump Rules seasons. Plus, the Charleston group hasn’t gone completely into social media influencer mode just yet, meaning they really work at Republic — and need the show (and tips) like the SURvers did back in 2013.
As production for season 12 of Vanderpump Rules kicks off in 2025, Leva makes it clear that she remains a huge fan of the show and its stars.
“I think it’s good to close out before the magic is gone,” she said. “They’re all doing great on their own, thriving and everything.”
At the same time, if viewers are hoping to follow a group of core friends who constantly work and hang out together, look no further than Southern Hospitality.
“I think that because they work together all year when the cameras are off, they’re genuinely friends, they have such a history and because they have to work in this kind of high-pressure environment, it makes for a friendship that no one else understands,” Leva explained. “That’s why the show works.”
Stream past episodes of Vanderpump Rules and Southern Hospitality now on Peacock. Season 3 of Southern Hospitality premieres on Bravo Thursday, January 2, at 9 p.m. ET.
