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Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval opened up about the upcoming ninth season of Vanderpump Rules during a recent interview.
In addition to addressing the exits of several of their former co-stars, including Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Jax Taylor, Brittany Cartwright, Max Boyens, and Brett Caprioni, the couple discussed what fans should expect from the new episodes while also addressing Randall Emmett‘s alleged role in sneak peek footage shared weeks ago.
“It changes things and we obviously don’t know what to expect. It’s going to be a little bit different, but we’re just going to live our lives,” Ariana told Entertainment Tonight about how Pump Rules would be now that six of its former cast members are no longer filming. “We’re just going to lean into it and have a lot of fun.”
According to Ariana, she’s not sure how producers will handle the absences of her ex-co-stars.
“That’s not up to us,” she admitted as Sandoval offered his thoughts.
“We’ll address it in our own way and probably just quickly move on,” he suspected.
As for how the cast was feeling leading up to the start of production in May, Ariana said that while she doesn’t want to speak for her castmates, she believed that everyone was excited to get back in front of the cameras.
“I do think everyone is really looking forward to us all spending time together again,” she said. “And I do think that the overwhelming sense that I get from everybody is just a very positive feeling. I think everyone’s really excited.”
“I’m excited for TomTom to open back up,” Sandoval added. “Obviously, it’s a little nerve-racking, to be filming this show. It can be very happy at times. It can also… give you a lot of anxiety. So, we are slightly experiencing a little bit of that right now, leading into filming. But I feel very confident that this is going to be another great season.”
As Pump Rules fans likely saw, a couple of sneak peeks at the ninth season were shared earlier this year, and right away, many assumed that Lala Kent‘s producer fiancé was behind the footage. However, according to Ariana, that was not the case.
“They did want to just capture that moment before [Scheana Shay] and Lala both gave birth, because by the time, you know, we start filming this month, they’ve had their babies,” she explained, shutting down rumors suggesting Randall filmed the scenes in hopes of selling them to Bravo once season nine was given the go-ahead.
Speaking of the new additions to the cast, Ariana said she’s sure that the fact that her co-stars are now parents will change the dynamic between them.
“I think it’s going to be explosive,” she said. “I have so many friends that have kids and family members who have kids and they’re always the same person. I do think that when something like that, so monumental in your life, happens, your priorities do change. So, we’ll see.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing that and being a part of that journey,” Sandoval added. “It’s going to be interesting. It’s going to be fun and it’s going to be intense.”
Vanderpump Rules season nine will premiere on Bravo sometime this fall.
