Katie Maloney Says She’s “So Glad” She’s Not on ‘The Valley’; Tells Tom Schwartz There Were “No Family Vibes” Among ‘VPR’ Cast at the End of Season 11

On the premiere episode of Tom Schwartz’s Detox Retox podcast, the former Vanderpump Rules star welcomed his former cast mate and ex-wife Katie Maloney for a discussion on the highs and lows of their respective Bravo experiences. 

As Bravo fans know, Katie and Schwartz appeared on ‘Vanderpump Rules’ through Season 11, during which viewers watched as the pair got engaged, married and eventually divorced. After the Season 11 finale, ‘Vanderpump Rules’ was “put on pause” in April 2024 and it was announced in November that the show would be getting an entirely new cast for Season 12. 

While talking about their time filming the Bravo series, Katie told Schwartz that while she “wouldn’t want to change anything” about the experience, there were times “that were really f**king difficult” for her– a feeling she was reminded of recently when watching the ‘Vanderpump Rules’ spin-off, The Valley. 

“ … I’m so glad I’m not filming a TV show because I’m just thinking about their walk-ups that they’re doing, having the conversations that they don’t want to have … it can be really draining,” she said. “It can also be the best f**king time ever, but where I’m at right now, I’m really happy just getting to enjoy my life and the way I want to enjoy it.” 

Katie went on to remind Schwartz’s podcast listeners that the OG cast worked on ‘Vanderpump Rules’ for nearly 12 years. After filming for more than a decade, Katie said it’s nice to be able to just “hang” and focus on other projects– namely the Disrespectfully podcast she co-hosts with former ‘Vanderpump Rules’ star Dayna Kathan and the Something About Her sandwich shop she co-owns with Ariana Madix. 

As The Ashley previously reported, shortly after it was announced that ‘Vanderpump Rules’ would be getting a new cast for Season 12, Katie revealed to her podcast listeners that she had actually informed show producers months earlier that she wouldn’t be returning for Season 12. Schwartz noted on his podcast this week that many fans didn’t believe that Katie had actually planned to leave the show after Season 11 and responded online at the time by giving her “so much s**t” for her comments. Schwartz assured his ex this week that he believed she really had “made peace with being done with the show” at the time. 

“I think you were being honest,” Schwartz said. “I think it wasn’t a deflection or a self-defense thing.” 

Katie confirmed that she was “very, very much ready” to leave ‘Vanderpump Rules’ when Season 11 ended, claiming she had “hit a wall.” 

“ … I was like, either the show’s gonna end tremendously and I’m gonna walk away and feel good about it, or I’m gonna eventually get to the point where I’m like, I can’t do this anymore,” she explained. 

As viewers know, despite being a main cast member on ‘Vanderpump Rules’ until last season, Schwartz has made appearances on episodes of ‘The Valley’ (in Season 1 and Season 2) as have former ‘Vanderpump Rules’ cast members Scheana Shay and Lala Kent. 

While Katie has made the decision not to make the jump to the ‘Vanderpump Rules’ spin-off herself, she admits there are things about being on a Bravo show that she will miss, including making appearances on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. However, Katie said that, to her, the fringe benefits of being a Bravo employee aren’t worth the challenges that come with being on a reality TV show. 

“ … It’s designed just to break people down, it’s really difficult,” Katie said, to which Schwartz argued that the shows are actually designed to make people be “radically honest and raw.”  

“Well, the thing is, I was radically honest and raw,” Katie argued. “But I think sometimes, it can’t be shown in the way the it’s most intended from me … .” 

Katie also noted that at the end of Season 11, the ‘Vanderpump Rules’ cast had become “so divided” that she no longer felt that it would be the healthiest thing for her to continue, especially if she were required to continue going on trips with her ex-husband season after season.  

“I get it,” Schwartz said. “ … It might have felt a little contrived had we had another season. The reason I was rooting for another season, not [for] obvious reasons, not more money, but I was like, I didn’t love the way [Season 11] ended. It just felt like such a chasm. 

“It kind of felt sad because even though we were highly dysfunctional, Katie, you know better than anybody, we were also a big, happy, dysfunctional family,” he added. 

“For a while,” Katie replied. “Not at the end there, though. There was no family vibes.” 

Katie went on to say that after filming the show together for so many years, she had hoped that she and her cast mates could have “gone out on some kind of high note” or at the very least, known ahead of time that Season 11 would be their last season together. 

“[We could have been like,] let’s just put our hearts in it,” she said. “We don’t need to f**k with each other after [this].” 

New episodes of ‘The Valley’ air Tuesdays on Bravo.