Katie Maloney isn’t so sure that Vanderpump Rules will be returning to Bravo for a ninth season.
While Katie revealed during a recent interview that she’s hopeful that she and her co-stars will be brought back for new episodes, she feels it would be “weird” filming without Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute, who were fired from the reality series in June amid allegations of racist behavior.
“I have no idea,” Katie admitted to Entertainment Tonight about the future of Pump Rules. “Every day, I’m being like, ‘Maybe today we’ll get the phone call!’ I’m hopeful. They haven’t canceled it, so there’s hope still. At least there’s not, like, anything definitive in that regard.”
“I don’t even know if we still have a show,” she continued. “It’s hard to have a sexy unique show without a Sexy Unique Restaurant.”
According to Katie, she felt that the season finale of Pump Rules season eight felt more like a series finale.
“I remember watching it and thinking, ‘This looks so final, what the hell?’ I cried,” she admitted. “Normally our seasons always end on a happy note. It all works out and it’s like this full circle kind of thing, and this time it was, ‘Oh, sh*t.'”
If and when Pump Rules returns, it will look much different due to not only the absences of Stassi and Kristen, but also the absences of Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni, who were also fired in June due to a series of racially-charged tweets they shared years ago.
“I try to picture and think about it, and it’s so weird,” Katie said of the Stassi and Kristen-free series. “It’s definitely gonna feel different and look different, but it’s not like they’re not a part of my life.”
After revealing that both Stassi and Kristen are “definitely holding themselves accountable” for their past behavior, Katie said she hopes to shed light on racial injustice and police brutality on the potential ninth season of Pump Rules.
“I think it’s about being aware of our privilege and trying our best to understand,” she explained. “It’s just about holding everyone accountable, and [having] conversations about how we’re doing that in our own lives…. sharing your experience and how you’re working through things.”
“It’s our responsibility to do the things that we can do to make change, ultimately,” she added.
Photos Credit: Faye Sadou/MediaPunch/INSTARimages.com, Tommy Garcia/Bravo